Phantom Butterfly
by Ayamekashi
Summary: Sequel to Stained Glass Masquerade: Shuichi is now a child psychologist in training, his dark past playing the greatest part in his decision while Yuki is a renowned freelance fashion designer, having completely turned his back on the teaching profession.
1. 1st Shadow

Okay, I know I said I'll be starting the sequel after my exams, but my muse _just_ won't shut up. Gargh! This always happens during exams…why?! Haha…Anyway, I'm sure you guys prefer an early start than late…Right? I'm really happy for the overwhelming support I got for this sequel. I hope I wont disappoint my loyal readers!

For those who haven't read Stained Glass Masquerade, I suggest you do so because otherwise, there'll be confusion at certain parts of this story.

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**Disclaimer:** I'm back with a sequel but it _still _doesn't belong to me…Unfair!!

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**1st Shadow-Should yesterday link to the past, and tomorrow to the future, what then, ties us to the present?**

Shuichi stepped into Sakasama Hospital, smiling cheerfully at a passing nurse. Reaching the Child and Adolescent Mental Health department, he noticed Kureha-sensei, a senior psychologist who also happened to be his Supervisor for the two years while he was still under training discussing with a nurse.

Noting Shuichi's presence, she beckoned him over and slapped a patient's file into his hand. "You're just in time, the police dropped a new patient in for us last night and I want you to take a look a look at her. The poor girl is in a bad shape, I don't understand how her father abused her so severely that she had to be hospitalized. No wonder her mind's so messed up - imagine having to get counseling at age six!"

Shuichi nodded in understanding at her angry tone. "Okay, so are we going to take a look at her now?"

Sighing tiredly, she shook her head. "I'm afraid you're on your own on this one; there are way too many people seeking mental help and there's only so much time I have."

Misunderstanding Shuichi's apprehensive look, she smiled reassuringly (which didn't really help because all it did was emphasize on her eye bags), "Don't worry, she's all patched up - no missing teeth or any black eye at the very least. Her right arm's broken though."

Shuichi started his protest. "But I don't think I can handle this sort of case! I- "

"You," she interjected forcefully, "will do fine." Switching to a deceptively pleasant smile, she added, "Riiiiiight?"

Quailing under her glare - err, smile - Shuichi mumbled a defeated "Of course."

"Somehow, I just _knew_ you would agree."

XXX

Shuichi flipped through the file as he headed for her wardroom. _Let's see…Name is Shirachou Rika, age six…Mother is Shirachou Shoko, father unknown._ Shuichi paused, frowning. _So she took her mother's maiden name, huh? Just like me then…_

And so it was; Shuichi's name remained Shindou Shuichi even after his biological father, Ishiharu Kai appeared, feeling a need to hang on to the last memory of his mother. Though he never said it out loud, somehow his father understood - and so did Yuki.

Reaching the room, Shuichi knocked softly before pushing the door open. His eyes immediately went to the bed and he studied the little girl staring at him. Shoulder length dark brown hair was neatly done in two braids, presumably by one of the nurses, and she had huge round black eyes, giving her an angelic appearance.

Approaching her slowly, Shuichi spoke gently, "Hello, I'm Shuichi but you can call me Shu, and it would make me very happy if you would call me oniisan - not ojiisan though! That," Shuichi nodded at the soft toy she was clutching with her left hand (since her right was in a cast), "is a cute teddy bear. Does she have a name?"

Rika just stared at him blankly, not even blinking. Shuichi tried again, "Maybe she's feeling shy. All right then, why don't you tell me _your_ name instead?"

Still no response. Those lifeless dark liquid pools seemed to be seeing nothing.

"Um…excuse me, Sensei, but she can't speak."

Shuichi turned around in surprise; he never heard the nurse entering. Blinking when he realized what she had just said, Shuichi echoed, "Can't speak?"

She nodded. "We don't know what's wrong. There's no damage to the vocal cords so we suspect it's just the shock. She's been like this ever since she came in. She didn't even flinch when Ishi-sensei treated her - wasn't frightened at all. She doesn't seem to have a mind of her own - though she does what we tell her to, like eating and changing. She just doesn't seem to react to anything."

Shuichi sighed. So _this _was why they needed him here. "All right, thanks. I'll see what I can do."

XXX

After work, Shuichi was home. Throwing his keys and security pass on the kitchen counter, he sang out, "Yuuukiiiiiiiiiii!"

Receiving no signals of life (not that he was expecting any), Shuichi made his way towards their bedroom, pausing when he heard sounds of paper rustling from Yuki's study. Opening it, he saw the blond man sitting on the floor, a characteristic frown of his face as he sketched, unaware of Shuichi's presence.

Shuichi tiptoed towards Yuki, careful not to step on the countless sheets of draft littering the floor. Successfully sneaking behind him, Shuichi whipped Yuki's glasses off, laughing silently to himself as Yuki blinked in confusion for a moment.

Yuki, having heard Shuichi's laughter (not so silent, after all), glared at him. "Shu, I remember telling you to stop doing that."

Shuichi stuck his tongue out, reminding Yuki that even after so many years, even after his pink dye wore off back to his natural black hair; even after he grew a little taller; even after he lost his baby fat; even after he gained a more mature look, Shuichi was still as immature as he had been at seventeen.

Ceasing his laugher, Shuichi asked Yuki, "Why are you here anyway?"

"In case you finally killed off all your neurons from overusing strawberry scented air freshener, like I told you they would, I live here, Shuichi. Duh."

"That's not what I meant! I thought you were supposed to pick Mika and Tohma from the airport at seven – did you forget?"

"Of course not. Which reminds me, why are you back so early today? It's only," Yuki half-heartedly pushed a sketchbook blocking the face of a silly looking beaver-shaped clock away (Shuichi bought it for him after Yuki threw his previous alarm clock one time too many and it broke), "seven thir – SEVEN THIRTY?!"

XXX

Fifteen minutes later, Shuichi just knew he shouldn't have eaten the whole box of doughnuts the kindly old lady in ward 606 gave him.

"Yuki, slow down! I'm going to puke!"

"Don't you dare dirty my car, brat. Puke on the inside, inside!"

Not trusting himself not to puke if he opened his mouth, Shuichi decided not to risk retorting. Yuki was driving at probably 259mph and he was more than a little surprised there were no sirens tailing after them; that, combined with the fact no innocent pedestrians had been moved down yet was nothing short of a miracle.

Screeching to an abrupt halt, Yuki calmly parked his car and threw a careless glance over at Shuichi. "You still alive?"

Shuichi merely glared at Yuki, resenting the fact that he was perfectly unaffected by their ground-level roller-coaster ride.

XXX

"And? Why were you so late again?"

Yuki shrugged at his sister's annoyed tone. "I had better things to do."

Mika sighed and signaled at a waiter for the bill. The four of them were now in a restaurant. Having found a very irritated Mika and an indifferent looking Tohma waiting for them at the airport, they quickly decided the best way to appease Mika's wrath was to feed her. Unfortunately, it only worked to some extent. At least Mika wasn't screaming anymore.

Tohma gave Yuki an amiable smile, "Did you lose track of time again, Eiri-san?"

"…"

Mika sighed. "I guess that means yes."

"…Whatever."

Shuichi quickly jumped in before Mika stabbed Yuki with the knife she was playing with. "So, how are Tatsuha and Ryuichi?"

"They're still doing the same thing, traveling from place to place. It still amazes me how they ended up together."

"Yeah! I got a shock when Ryuichi suddenly announced that he was going to be a model on graduation day…though what surprised me even more was that Tatsuha would be his photographer."

"At least Tatsuha's out of my hair now, he's busy messing up Ryuichi's - in a way that I don't care to think of."

Yuki listened to their idle chatter, bored. Why on Earth couldn't Mika just take a cab? He still had tons of work to do and _that_ was much more preferable compared to suffering Mika and Tohma's company. And why couldn't Shuichi ever learn to just say 'no'? It had been him who suggested dinner after all. Shuichi, in Yuki's opinion, was a complete pushover when it came to everyone but Yuki.

Yuki was rudely jerked out of his mindless boredom by the unpleasant sounds of retching. _Don't tell me he was actually serious about puking._

But it wasn't Shuichi who was vomiting. It was Mika. Tohma was rubbing Mika's back comfortingly while Shuichi, as was typical for him, panicked. "Are you all right, Mika-san? Do you need a doctor?" Obviously, he had forgotten Mika was a doctor herself. And so was he. Well, he was kind of a doctor anyway.

Mika shook her head weakly, rasping out. "It's okay. I already know what's wrong with me…and a doctor wouldn't help anyway."

"What do you mean? Is it a terminal disease? Oh, no! Are you dying??"

Yuki knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help feeling just a _bit_ hopeful at Shuichi's last panic-stricken ramble.

Tohma calmly answered for an exasperated Mika as she continued retching. "Don't worry, she's not dying, Shindou-san."

A muttered 'Damn' from Yuki.

"Do have a death wish, Eiri??"

"Actually, I do. Just not mine."

"Eiri!"

It was here Tohma saved Yuki from the very real threat of death by a table knife. And fork. Actually, all tableware in general.

"She's just pregnant."

"…"

"WHAT?!"

XXX

"Yuki! Hold still!"

Yuki groused in reply as Shuichi applied some liniment on his forehead. "I can't believe she actually hit me with a bottle of ketchup. Damn those estrogen!"

Completely without sympathy, Shuichi huffily said, "Serves you right! You shouldn't have said you didn't know she was actually female enough to get pregnant. The bottle was almost empty anyway."

"That's beside the point! Can you imagine Mika and Tohma doing," Yuki shuddered a little, "_that_? And any product from them doing…_that_ is going to make Lucifer look like a cute little girl in braids."

Screwing the cap onto the tube of antiseptic, Shuichi said, "Speaking of little girls in braids, I met one in the hospital today. Her father was beating her in public and some passer-by called the police. He got away though; the police are still searching for him. Apparently, her mother died giving birth to her…"

Yuki watched Shuichi carefully; he wasn't fooled by Shuichi's casual tone. He was all too aware Shuichi's mentality had been deeply wounded during his traumatizing childhood. While he had done all he could to heal those wounds, some had left inerasable scars.

_This _was the main reason he had been so against Shuichi's chosen profession; he didn't want him to be near people that had suffered similar experiences. Shuichi would only hurt himself.

But Shuichi had stubbornly insisted he wanted, he _needed_ to do this each and every time they had a row over it. Yuki had finally relented, but only because he realized that this was Shuichi's way of proving his own worth to himself.

That, and because Yuki would rather have a hurt, stubborn, bratty Shuichi over a lifeless, subdued one. Even so, Yuki still wasn't very happy about it and every time a new patient showed up, Yuki grimly prayed Shuichi wouldn't get too close to them - for his own good.

Not wanting to hear anymore, Yuki silenced Shuichi's torrent of words with a kiss. When Shuichi had been successfully distracted, Yuki pulled away and ordered in a brusque tone, "Go to sleep. You talk too much." _Always have, and probably always will. He'll bite his tongue off one day. Can't say I'll be sorry when that happens._

Shuichi did as he was told; throwing himself on the bed, he buried his head under the pillow. He peeked at Yuki as he switched off the bedroom lights and went out of the room. "You're not sleeping?"

"Later. Have to file everything before Kaori starts fussing like the mother hen she is."

Iwata Kaori, Yuki's personal assistant.

"Oh…Okay…night Yuki!"

Yuki closed the door without responding, leaving Shuichi to toss and turn in the darkness.

_Iwata…I don't like that woman. She's interested in Yuki - I just know it! Yuki's going to get mad again if I say anything though…I guess it's all right as long as she doesn't try anything funny…She DOES know we're married after all…_

Shuichi stared up at the ceiling, not really seeing it.

_What am I going to do about Rika? She reminds me so much of myself... _

………

_No. It's all in the past now. Tomorrow will be different. Tomorrow…tomorrow…tomorrow I will…_

And when tomorrow came, Shuichi woke up late, burnt the toast, spilled Yuki's coffee (he preferred hot chocolate), was yelled at by Yuki, late for work, made doubly late when he realized he had forgotten his security pass and had to turn back, got yelled at by Yuki again – this time louder than before, was laughed at by giggling nurses, lectured by Kureha-sensei and topped it all off by realizing he was still wearing his pajama bottom.

Oh yea, life was just peachy for Shindou Shuichi.

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How…how was it? (Chewing fingernails) The beginning was originally more depressing but…I didn't want to start a new story with a head-plunge into the heart of darkness. Should it get darker from here on? In case it's not noticeable, I'm uber nervous about writing a sequel because sequels usually turn out awful… Please review! Oh, and please let me know if there are any grammar/spelling mistakes. Thanks! 


	2. 2nd Shadow

Yeeeeeeeeeees!!!!!!! My exams are OVEEEEEEERRRRR!!!!!! Just (checks time) two hours ago, I was suffering for my core maths paper and now, I'm FREE!!! Woohoo! Ahem, sorry bout those capitals and exclamation marks (grins) To share my most sincere joy, chapter two of Phantom Butterfly is out! Many thanks for everyone's support! It really, really makes me ecstatic and relieved to find most people like the idea of this sequel. On to the story!

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**Disclaimer:** If I owned Gravitation, Shuichi would be more psycho than Yuki.

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**2nd Shadow-Why do we always fall in love, only to realise we're falling apart?**

Shifting the plastic bag into his other hand, Shuichi knocked softly on the door. "Rika? I'm coming in."

Pushing the door open, Shuichi brightly launched a greeting. "I got you gummy candies and orange juice as a present today! Shhh, don't tell Noriko-oneesan or I'll get scolded!" He paused when he noticed Rika not listening to him - she focused all her attention on biting her cast instead.

Shuichi was by her side in two seconds, exclaiming, "Rika! Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself!"

The little girl didn't hear him; if she did, she was very good at playing dumb. It was almost a week since Rika arrived and she still hadn't spoken a single word. She had gotten a little more reactive, eyes showing more life – but she remained unresponsive to any attempt at communicating.

Arms stretching out to physically stop her when she didn't heed him and continued gnawing her cast, Shuichi froze in shock at Rika's first noticeable reaction to anything. The movement was so slight that any less observant person would have missed it. But not him, who was more sensitive about physical contact than most.

She flinched.

Shuichi stared at her for a moment before letting his arms drop to his side, shaken to the very core. She had recoiled ever so slightly and was staring at him with those depthless huge eyes, chewing activity forgotten. She was flinching away from _him_. As though she was expecting him to hurt her, to be like her father.

The seal on Shuichi's forcefully suppressed memories cracked a little, allowing a wisp of darkness escape. He fought it, not wanting the reminder that he used to be like this as well.

Broken, scared and lonely.

Seeking help but not knowing where to look, not knowing who he could trust not to hurt him. Eventually those heavy feelings made him so tired; it constricted his throat, made him unable to even scream.

Now, with Rika right in front of him, Shuichi couldn't help wondering if this was the reason she never spoke; not because she couldn't, but because she had given up, stopped reaching out.

He sank into the cold, hard metal chair that Rika's temporary nurse, Noriko, had left for him to use on his daily visits. He took a deep breath, recomposing himself. _It's over. I'm twenty-three – almost twenty-four! They can't hurt me anymore. I need to be here for Rika._

"It's okay, Rika. I'm not going to hurt you. Just don't do that, or your bones won't set. You wouldn't want to have a permanent broken bone right?"

She stared at him.

Shuichi was beginning to hate those huge eyes; he couldn't bear to see the fear there, fear directed at _him_ and even worse, (if that was possible) he was shaken to see his image reflected in her eyes. _Is this how I look like to her…? _

It was only natural, of course, to look like that at his age; but it never really occurred to him that he was now old enough to be considered a man – he had become his greatest fear. He would have laughed at the irony if he wasn't reeling in shock at the unpleasant revelation – Shuichi was scared of _himself_.

"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you, it's okay."

Shuichi kept repeating those words, over and over again, knowing how important it was to make her feel assured that he wasn't angry with her. Repeated it patiently until the tension seeped out from her tiny shoulders, and she loosened her death grip on the wrinkled bed sheets, allowing the blood to circulate back into her white knuckles.

Shuichi smiled lightly at Rika, not allowing a hint of emotion to show, and careful to keep his distance. Digging through the plastic bag, he took a smaller paper bag of assorted candy out and peered into it. "Which one do you like better, Rika? The cola shaped gummy, or the wriggly worm? Oh look, they even have sugared teddy bears!"

He allowed his excited chatter to carry on, filling the silence of the room. The walls were so white. Why did they have to be white? Shuichi secretly detested the colour, and he didn't think anyone noticed. Four all-too-white walls seemed to be closing in on him, choking, preventing escape.

White. The very colour made him feel dirty.

XXX

Shuichi sighed tiredly as he closed the house door. Yuki. He needed Yuki's presence, for him to yell at him, and be irritated with him. Anything at all that could replace this dull feeling he had once hoped to never experience again. He called out, "Yuki? Are you home?"

Making his way to Yuki's study, Shuichi knocked the door and getting no response, hesitantly pushed it open, poking his head in. "Yu…" he trailed off when he saw Yuki sleeping at the desk - he hadn't even bothered to take his glasses off.

Smiling to himself at the sight of the comfortingly familiar figure, Shuichi shook Yuki's shoulders lightly. "Yuki, wake up. It's not good to sleep like that."

"I suggest it's better to just let him to let him rest."

Shuichi almost jumped out of his skin at the voice - he hadn't even realised there was someone else in the house. Whirling around, he saw a petite woman with long highlighted hair and almond-shaped eyes standing at the doorway, holding two glasses of iced water.

"Iwata-san! I didn't know you were here."

Yuki's assistant set the two glasses down on the table before replying, "Yes, well, Eiri said he was done with his collection for the Paris collection so I thought I'd come and help him organize. He's been at it since ten and only just dozed off."

Shuichi fidgeted a little, uncomfortable. Somehow, the woman always made him feel out of place, even in his own house; it was like she was intruding on a part of Yuki's life Shuichi wasn't even aware of. "I see…Well, I suppose I better start preparing dinner. Are you joining us, Iwata-san?"

The small-framed lady coolly replied, "It's all right. Thanks for asking. And please, call me Kaori. After all," Was it Shuichi's imagination or was she smirking? " - _Eiri - _calls me that as well."

"Okay…if you insist."

Not wanting to carry on this little…was it a conversation? Shuichi hastily closed the door and hurried to the kitchen. There, he stared blankly at the kitchen counter for a moment. _Yuki's right, I'm being paranoid._

Shaking off his troubled thoughts, Shuichi gratefully threw himself into the challenging chore of cooking.

When he was done, Shuichi went to take a shower before checking in on Yuki again. This time, he was awake, debating with Kaori.

"No, no, I need this material to be muslin or it will –"

"Yuki."

Yuki motioned for Shuichi to go away without even looking, "Not now. As I was saying, wool-lining for this is-"

"Yuki, about din-"

Irritated at the second interruption, Yuki snapped, "What do you want? I'm busy."

"Um…I'm sorry. But it's about dinner…"

Yuki glared at him dismissively before returning to the sketch he was holding. "Go cook something then. Did you expect me to cater to your every whim?"

_But I already cooked something…all you have to do is eat it…have you forgotten what day today is?_ Shuichi tried not to let his hurt show. "Okay…Sorry for disturbing."

Kaori merely tossed him a look; Yuki didn't even deign to reply.

Silently closing the door, Shuichi could hear the soft voices carry on, as though he had never been there. In the kitchen, he stared at dinner, wondering if the neighbour's tabby cat enjoyed spaghetti Bolognese.

XXX

After washing up, Shuichi went to bed, deep in contemplation. The memory of that morning kept replaying in his head - the sudden (though brief) look of intense fear in Rika's eyes, her flinching when he was about to touch her.

Shuichi sighed, rolling to his side. Did Rika really think he wanted to hurt her?

After that incident, Rika had morphed back into an emotionless doll, retreating into herself. No matter how much Shuichi coaxed, she just wouldn't lower her guard.

Frustrated and more upset than he let on, Shuichi had left, telling Noriko to keep all two eyes on her - and more if she had any to spare (he was convinced she had an invisible one at the back of her head. And butt.)

Shuichi subconsciously played with the platinum band on his left hand, twisting it round and round the ring finger. How did they end up like this? How did _he_ end up like this?

Thinking back into the past, he suddenly recalled the time Yuki had proposed; coming from Yuki though, it did _not_ sound like one.

It was during one of Shuichi's more paranoid, insecure episodes, when he had rambled on and on about why they shouldn't live together; that it was wrong, about how much Shuichi was depriving Yuki of, how he would never meet any girls with him latching on, that he would end up all alone and the list just went on.

That had been three years ago; it had been the season of delightful exams and Shuichi had been feeling just a tad under weather and fretting over only about everything.

Exasperated, Yuki had countered, saying, "If it bothers you that much, let's just get married."

The only person that had been more surprised than Shuichi had probably been Yuki himself. He had assumed Yuki was just saying it to make him shut up and would forget all about it later. He didn't.

Two weeks later, Shuichi had been studying until he fell asleep. When he woke up, there was a ring on his finger, and it's matching partner was on Yuki's. Three months after that, they registered their marriage and were bound to each other for life.

It was a big step for Shuichi, who had once believed _nobody _would want to go near him if his secret was ever exposed, let alone marry him. Even now, he couldn't fathom what drove Yuki to make such a commitment. Shuichi was now very different from the terrified, helpless little boy he once was.

Very different indeed.

He was in control of his life now. Definitely.

He curled to his side, feeling safer that way. _I'm older now. Memories can't hurt me…I have to forget and move on…I have to protect Rika…Yuki…_

Soon, his repeated mumblings faded as he slipped into restless sleep.

XXX

"Just do it my way."

Yuki shut the door, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Glancing at Shuichi's watch, (Shuichi had left it on the kitchen counter) Yuki sighed. It was almost four in the morning and he was downright exhausted.

Dropping by the kitchen for a drink, Yuki paused when he noticed a covered plate of cold spaghetti waiting on the table. He frowned, having completely forgotten about the earlier incident. He had, as a matter of a fact, forgotten entirely about dinner.

_Lets see, today is… Damn._

Today was Thursday.

It had completely slipped his mind that on Thursdays, he always had dinner with Shuichi no matter how busy they were. After Yuki had started his career as a fashion designer and Shuichi had been in university, their timetables had been wildly contrasting, leading Shuichi to insist they shared dinner at least once a week, fixing it on Thursdays.

That tradition had been strictly followed through the time Shuichi was in university, although Yuki would never admit cancelling important meetings or skipping appointments for such a sappy reason as having dinner together. Feeling a twinge of guilt prick him, Yuki went to the bedroom.

He sat of the bed cautiously, studying Shuichi's face intently as he slept. The twinge blossomed into a full-blown stab as his sharp eyes noted the dark circles under Shuichi's eyes and the tight lines around his mouth that remained there even in sleep.

He brushed a few strands of hair away from Shuichi's face, rolling his eyes when Shuichi mumbled something incoherent.

_I'll make it up to you tomorrow_, Yuki silently promised the little lump huddled on the bed before switching off the bedside lamp.

But when Yuki woke the next day, Shuichi was already out of the house. Which was when Yuki knew something was seriously wrong because Shuichi was not capable of waking before Yuki. Even if he were, he would be so noisy; he would wake Yuki up anyway.

* * *

All right, that's all for this chapter. It's pretty slow but I promise the next chapter contains crack. Heh heh…Please excuse any grammar/spelling mistakes and please (this is way more important. Haha) REVIEW! Those little comments really cheer me up and give me motivation. Thanks! 


	3. 3rd Shadow

Thanks for reviewing, minna-san! As a reward, here's chapter three. (Grins) As JasLine asked, yes, technically it's already Friday but since Yuki hasn't gone to sleep yet, it's still considered Thursday…Does that make sense? Sutzina Zion has a fantastic view of what should befall Kaori. lol, I fully agree. I just realised that the original characters I create are usually easy to detest. Why?? Haha. In answer to Aacire's query, which is how Yuki got into the fashion business, Yuki always had a talent for art and designing. And in his earlier days, he had wanted a career that would fully utilise his talents but his father, being the evil pompous arse he is, (how can he not be when Yuki's his _son_???) he had no chance to do so until now.

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Now, now. If Gravi was mine, there would be no storyline – Yuki and Shuichi would be too busy bonking like bunnies.

* * *

**3rd Shadow-Why, or why not?**

Shuichi stood outside Rika's wardroom for a moment, mentally bracing himself. He had gotten up extra early to plan on how to deal with her. "How are you today, Ri-…"

He looked around the room in confusion – Rika was nowhere to be seen. Releasing his hold on the door handle, he hastily went in search for Noriko. Seeing her, he anxiously asked, "Do you know where Rika is?"

The curly haired nurse wrinkled her nose in puzzlement. "Rika-chan? Isn't she in her room?"

"No she's not; that's why I'm asking you! Quickly – help me look for her!"

"O-okay."

Shuichi rushed off, worriedly asking fellow staff if they had seen the withdrawn girl. _Where could she be? Did she get lost? What if her father snatched her out of the hospital?! She wouldn't have willingly left; she's not emotionally ready to deal with people. Oh no, what if she's been kidnapped by evil organisations so they can harvest her organs and sell them off?? Or even worse, aliens!! _

Half an hour of running from ward to ward in the hospital left Shuichi sweaty, flushed and breathless. Running a hand through his already messy ebony-black hair, he frantically tried to think of places he hadn't searched yet. Feeling a surge of wild panic bubbling, he tried to calm down. _I know! I'll go back to Rika's room. Maybe Noriko found something._

He found Noriko about to page for him. Seeing him, she released the button and placed the receiver back. "Shindou-sensei-…"

"Did you find her?!"

"About that…" Noriko pointed towards Rika's room. "She's inside."

Shuichi pushed the door open, eyes scanning for the silent girl. He frowned. "I don't see her."

The nurse rolled her eyes and pointed again, this time at the bed. "You'll find her there."

Shuichi slowly walked towards the bed and crouched down, peering under the bed. There, he found Rika, doe-like eyes staring at him with her usual blank expression.

"Apparently, she was under the bed all along."

Deep relief overcome Shuichi and he spoke more harshly than intended. "Rika, what are you doing hiding under the bed? It's not funny! Come out right now!"

He didn't need Noriko's reproachful "Sensei!" to warn him that he was being too rough; he regretted it the instant Rika recoiled, backing away. Her bottom lip jutted out slightly, trembling, and Shuichi knew she was holding back tears.

He straightened, sighing. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. Just…don't do that again okay? I was so worried…" He trailed off, a wave of resignation hitting him. He felt so tired of trying, didn't even know why he bothered anymore. Rika was just never going to let him come close, and it hurt even though he understood exactly the reason why.

Nodding at Noriko, he said, "I don't think she's coming out unless I'm gone. Take care of her, all right?"

He went out of the room, except that he never made it because Rika shot out from under the bed and pulled at his shoelaces, effectively tripping him. Landing on his bottom, Shuichi stared at Rika, not sure whether he should be happy or mad. "Rika, what are you doing?"

The little girl responded by deftly pulling Shuichi's left shoe off, exposing his striped sock .She immediately fled to hide behind the chair, where she watched him, shoe cradled with her uninjured arm. .

"Sensei."

Embarrassed, Shuichi turned to glare at the nurse, whose lips were twitching with signs of unmistakeable laughter. "I think she wants you to stay."

XXX

Shuichi happily hummed to himself as he strolled out of the lift, in an exuberant mood. He was certain he had reached some sort of breakthrough with Rika.

"Hey, isn't that him?"

"Who?"

"You know, that mysterious drop-dead gorgeous fashion designer"

Shuichi stopped short in his tracks and quickly hide behind a pillar. _Please don't let it be…_

"You mean the one that's been appearing all over magazines? People say his designs are too die for. One article even went as far as to call his hands a gift from God. He's a really low profile one though. I heard he's some tycoon's heir _and _he used to be a teacher. What was his name again? Oh yeah, Uesugi Eiri!"

_Oh, hallelujah._

Shuichi had repeatedly warned Yuki not to set a foot in this hospital unless he wanted to create a scandal and more importantly, there were rabid nurses and even some female doctors that would devour him on the spot.

"Who cares about that? I rather he have designs on me…and I can think of all sort of things his hands could do. His touch must feel like heaven!"

Shuichi blushed a little. Although he wasn't really sure, (no matter how he tried, he couldn't relax completely even if it was with Yuki) to call it heaven was a bit…

"Do you think he's got a girlfriend or – please, dear God, let it be a no! - married?"

"I don't know…He's being real tight-lipped about it. In fact, we know practically zilch about him, other than he's only Japan's top designer of course."

"Do you think I've got a chance if I try striking up a conversation?"

_Sorry, he's gay. And taken. But you can still be friends._

"Excuse me, can you help me locate someone?"

Shuichi stopped humming immediately. Yuki couldn't be serious about seeking him out like this when the nurses so obviously knew who he was. Right?

Taking no chances, Shuichi's hand dove for his cell phone in his pocket and frantically typed a message. Hitting 'send', he breathed a sigh of relief. _There, that should do it._

XXX

"I'm looking for-…"

Yuki's phone beeped, announcing the arrival of a message. "Give me a second."

Opening the text, Yuki winced at the butchered sentence. He wasn't even sure if it was English.

**C2pid yuki!!!dun tok 2 dem!!rawr!!**

**Sender: Brat**

He frowned, unable to make head or tail of the mysterious message_. Is this some kind of weird code?_ _Whatever. I'm already in the building. Why waste yen replying? I'll ask him later._

He turned back to the two nurses, who were watching him in a way that eerily remained Yuki of hawks - and he was their prey. Shuddering a little, Yuki forced a smile, his face muscles aching at the alien expression. "I'm looking for Shindou Shuichi."

Behind the pillar, Shuichi refrained the urge to bang his head against it. _I **need **to die. Stupid Yuki, didn't he get my message??_

"Eeeeehh?? Are you friends with Shindou-sensei??"

"Friends? No actually we-…"

Shuichi decided to kill himself later – he had some damage control to do. Stepping out, he quickly interjected. "No, no, we're just total strangers! Right Yuki? Right??"

Yuki gave him a weird look. _If he was here, why didn't he say something? Idiot_. Annoyed, Yuki retorted, "What the heck are you talking about?"

Shuichi reached them and with his back facing the nurses, gritted his teeth and hissed at Yuki. "What are you doing here?? I thought I told you this place is off-limits!"

Yuki just stared at him. Was _this _what Shuichi was so uptight over? He had assumed Shuichi was exaggerating about never setting a foot in his workplace.

The two nurses looked from Yuki to Shuichi, eyes bright with curiosity. One repeated her previous question. "Do you know each other?"

"No, not at all!"

"Of course."

The nurse blinked in confusion. "Okay…are you friends?"

"We're mere acquaintances!"

"Closer."

She grew even more confused as Shuichi glared at Yuki, getting an arrogant smirk right back.

"Yuki, what are you here for?"

Yuki coolly raised an eyebrow at Shuichi's aggressive tone. "It looks like the sky's going to pour soon so I came to pick you up."

"You live together??"

"We-…

"WE'RE HOUSEMATES!!"

Yuki glared at Shuichi, more than a little annoyed and fed up with Shuichi's obsessive need to keep their relationship quiet. He didn't mind people knowing, and _that _was saying something. So why was Shuichi making such a big fuss over what was a pure fact? Let the idiots say whatever they wanted.

His golden eyes narrowed sharply, and his tone was low and warning. "Shuichi, stop fooling around. Why do you insist on hiding?"

Unable to meet Yuki's piercing gaze, Shuichi helplessly looked away and shook his head, unable to give an answer. His voice was a whisper, "I don't…know."

Pushed over the brink of his patience, Yuki grabbed Shuichi's left hand, ignoring his cry of protest. He jerked it upright and held his own left hand next to Shuichi's, so that their wedding rings were glinting softly under the faint light, each quite obviously half of a pair.

Staring unblinkingly at the nurse, Yuki announced simply. "We're married."

_My life is over_, Shuichi thought miserably.

What happened next was a chain reaction, triggered off by a screeching:

"WHAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTT???!"

Almost simultaneously with:

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!"

A visitor, who had been walking their way while sipping steaming coffee from a polystyrene cup chocked, spewing a good mouthful of coffee at a doctor who was exiting the lift right in the face.

The poor doctor, who had also been pushing a patient in a wheelchair, tripped over a mop that had been forgotten by a janitor due to his suddenly blurred vision.

He tried to steady himself and it resulted in him pushing the wheelchair so hard that it was sent flying across the reception hall, where the poor young man flew from the wheelchair right into the lap of a heavily accessorized woman. She wore thick bright red lipstick, green eye shadow and had a huge wart right smack in the middle of her nose.

Shocked, she immediately started screaming bloody murder but stopped when she took a second look at the poor victim's face, which was, unluckily for him, quite good looking. She cooed at him, burying his face into her ample bosom. "Aww, c'mere you. You young men are so straightforward nowadays. Tee hee hee"

Yuki knew he shouldn't have, and that it was rude; but try as he may, he couldn't fight against it – he burst out laughing.

XXX

"Stop sulking already."

Shuichi responded by slamming the car door and marched towards the house. He stopped when he reached the door and held his hand out in a demanding stance, eyes determinedly looking away from Yuki.

"What?"

"…I forgot my house keys."

"…" Yuki took account of Shuichi's defensive tone and wisely kept silent. He handed the keys to Shuichi and watched as he unlocked the door. "Shuichi."

Shuichi ignored him and continued fiddling with the lock. Yuki bit back a growl of frustration and took in a deep breath. Over the years spent with Shuichi, he had learned to control his temper better. After all, snapping at Shuichi only resulted in him either yelling at the top of his voice or quivering like a frightened rabbit. Yuki didn't know which was worse.

"Shuichi…" Yuki sighed. He really had no energy to spare on a juvenile matter like this. "Look, I'm sorry. Okay?"

That got Shuichi's attention. Forgetting he was giving Yuki the silent treatment, he spun around to stare at Yuki in surprise, unlocking activity forgotten. "You are?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Really."

"As in sorry, sorry?"

"As in sorry, sorry."

Frowning at Yuki's lack of sarcasm, he cautiously touched Yuki's forehead with the back of his hand, as if afraid Yuki had rabies. "Are you sick?"

"…You make it sound like I'm incapable of apologizing."

"You said it, not me."

"…Something seems to be wrong with my hearing today. I keep hearing you insult me."

A polite cough interrupted their bickering. Both turned to look at their undetected observer. Mortified at being caught…_debating_, Shuichi exclaimed, "Dad! What are you doing here?"

Kai smiled at him, eyes twinkling. "Usually, I'm not one to interrupt domestic spats; a sign of a healthy relationship and all…"

"Dad!"

His father only laughed at that embarrassed interjection. "That being said, I would have been more than happy to watch it go on for just a little while longer - not that I want you two arguing, of course - but," he gestured at their surroundings, " it's about to rain and I'm afraid I can't say I like being drenched. Not fully clothed, anyway."

XXX

Once they were in the house and seated, Shuichi asked his father, "So what's going on?"

Kai's eyebrow arched elegantly at that. "What makes you think something's going on? Or have _you_ been doing something you rather not have me know?"

He merely got an exasperated glare as a respond. By now, Shuichi had learned, much to his horror that Kai's favourite pastime was messing with him. "Stop twisting my words! Geez…how did I end up with you as a father…? I mean, you visited us without warning so I thought something was up."

His father sighed in mock disappointment. "Do I need a reason to visit my dearly beloved only son? Must you reject your father so? Oh, the crushing pain!"

Shuichi rolled his eyes. "Don't be such a drama king. And don't you have some business rivals to crush or empires to build?"

Kai waved his hand in dismissal. "Those are merely hobbies to keep me occupied. And you really must learn to be a better wife. Don't you serve drinks to your visitors?" He sighed again. "Such bad manners. I have failed my role as a father…"

Hopping to his feet, Shuichi glared at him, feathers ruffled. All fired up, he yelled "For the hundredth time, stop referring me as 'wife'! I'll show you!" With that, he stormed off to the kitchen, darkly muttering about adding extra 'ingredients' into Kai's coffee.

Yuki merely watched the scene speculatively. He coolly asked Kai, "Must you really to that? He's going to start smashing bowls again."

The older man gave him a delighted grin "He does that? I had no idea. Ah, isn't he such an adorable twit?"

Yuki massaged his temple, mentally cursing. How had he ended up with this father-son pair?

"Yuki."

Yuki looked up immediately, sensing the seriousness in the man's tone. He had an unpleasant feeling about the look Kai wore. He quietly said, "Shuichi was right, wasn't he? You had a reason for coming here."

"Yes. There is something I must talk to you about, quickly; before Shuichi comes back."

* * *

Chapter 3 has been served and consumed. Hope ya' all like and to review! 


	4. 4th Shadow

Thanks to all who reviewed! I'm so sorry that my updates have been getting less and less frequent. (Cries) It's just that my homework is REALLY piling up. My finals is coming in a few months and I have absolutely NO idea what I'm even supposed to be studying…. Am I screwed or what?**  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Uh-huh. I'm sooooooo sure everyone here believes I own Gravitation. No, really, I do.

* * *

**4th Shadow-I just want to sleep and never awaken. **

"Hello?"

All that answered him was silence. Frowning, Shuichi glanced at his mobile screen. No luck, it was a private id. He tried again. "Hello?"

This time, three beeps answered him before going silent. He briefly wondered whom the mysterious caller that had just hung up on him was before slipping the mobile back into his pocket, a little girl exiting from a wardroom gaining his attention. He smiled at her. "Rika, are you ready?"

She gave him a somber nod, silent as ever, as he held his hand out to her. He had to refrain from jiggling with pure unadulterated happiness as she cautiously put her hand in his. Shuichi was taking her to the hospital garden, which wasn't much of an outing, but still a big step in reacquainting Rika with the outside world.

It was therefore imperative that all went well; to be sure Rika would be able to lose some of that hostile wariness alien on one so young.

XXX

Shuichi squinted in the bright sunlight. It was a beautiful morning; the warm rays seemed to give everything an extra healthy glow. They walked on towards a mini-fountain. He couldn't help but find it endearing that Rika was clinging close to him. Her hand was gripping Shuichi's tightly as her huge eyes took in their open surroundings.

She paused for a moment, staring at a patch of multi-colored wild flowers growing beside a willow tree just slightly northeast to the fountain. Following her intense gaze, Shuichi crouched down. He smiled at her encouragingly, "You can go look at them if you like. Just take your time."

She stared at him and gripped his hand tighter, the doubt evident in her endless brown eyes. Understanding her question, Shuichi laughed and gave her a little push, "It's okay. I'll be right here."

Unrelenting, she continued staring at him, not budging an inch. Shuichi patted her head reassuringly, keeping eye contact with her. "I promise."

She took a hesitant step away from him, and then another, keeping her eyes on him. When she was about two meters away and Shuichi still hadn't moved from his crouched position, she evidently decided he wasn't going anywhere without her and tottered off towards her target of interest.

"So this was where you were. Took me ages to find you, brat."

Shuichi lost his balance in surprise and fell backwards, landing on his bottom. Recognizing that cool, silky voice, he instantly recovered his composure to glare at Yuki. "I thought I forbade you to come here just _yesterday_!"

A snort. "I needed to tell you something. And you said I can't enter the your workplace. If you use your eyes – and brains – you'll see that I'm not actually _in_ the building. Therefore, I am technically _not _in your workplace. And besides, I couldn't get through your mobile. Did you forget to charge your battery again?"

Shuichi blinked, ignoring Yuki's last question, which wasn't really a question anyway. He wondered, _what's so important that he can't wait for me to get home to tell?_

When he voiced his question, Yuki didn't answer him immediately; instead he ran a hand through his hair distractedly, frowning, as though unsure what to say.

Now that Shuichi took a closer look, he could see Yuki had dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was messy. Even his usually impeccable suit had creases and what looked like a coffee stain on the right sleeve. _Yuki's been acting weird all night…ever since father came to visit, in fact. I wonder what's wrong._

Getting worried, Shuichi called out to his zoned-out husband, "Yuki?"

At Shuichi's soft voice, Yuki appeared to shake himself out of his thoughts. He gave Shuichi a strained smile. "About that, I need to fly to France immediately, so I wont be home tonight. There has been some…miscommunication about my exhibit there and my representatives are a bunch of useless, blundering fools - which is why I have to personally smoothen things out."

Shuichi nodded slowly. That explained why Yuki was so stressed out. "Okay. I don't like you gone but I understand. When will you be back?"

"It shouldn't take long. A week at most."

_A week?!_ Shuichi's heart sank at that. While he had outgrown his paranoia of being alone in the big house while Yuki's work took him away, he still didn't relish the idea of sleeping all alone in an empty bed with only darkness to keep him company.

Sometimes, memories of his tortured past came to him in nightmares; he no longer knew how to deal with them without Yuki's presence to give him a sense of reality, without Yuki to gently rub his back in circles and whisper soothingly until he fell back to sleep. It was during periods like that where Yuki's icy façade just seemed to melt away, and Shuichi loved him for that.

He mustered a brave smile, "Remember to buy me presents!"

Yuki rolled his eyes and muttered, "Be careful or I might think you actually _like _having me away just for the sake of a bunch of useless junk you throw aside and never look at again once the wrapping paper is ripped off and in the trash."

"That's not true!" was Shuichi's instant protest. Just as Yuki predicted.

Yuki gave him an amused grin. "Just teasing, brat. And please, try not to clog the toilets, bust a pipe, set my bonsai on fire, drive my car, break the chair's leg, break _your_ leg, mistake my sleeping pills as candy, and bring home any weird objects including stray cats, dogs, anything related to the animal kingdom including homeless people on the street, _and _attempt to erase any evidence of doing anything of said above by purposely adding a whole box of soap powder into the washing machine and then attempting to blame it on the pet goldfish named Bubbles which, by the way, we don't even own."

Face red, Shuichi huffily sulked. "Is that all you can say??"

"Nope." Yuki leaned in towards the younger. Shuichi could feel Yuki's warm breath tickling his ear as he murmured softly, "I forgot to say that I might actually miss you."

"Yu-"

A loud thudding sound rudely jerked Shuichi back to their surroundings. Snatching his hand away, which had been reaching for Yuki, Shuichi whipped around. Rika was on the ground, staring at him_. Oh no, what happened this time. Why is she looking at me with so much fear in her eyes again?_

A bunch of flowers Shuichi assumed had been freshly plucked by Rika lay scattered on the ground, forgotten.

Irritated at the interruption, Yuki snapped, "Who's that kid?"

Shuichi answered softly, eyes never leaving Rika. "She's Rika. The one I told you about."

A look of understanding immediately lit Yuki's eyes, though all he said was "I see."

Shuichi cautiously took a step nearer. She pushed herself backwards, trembling. It felt like someone was squeezing his heart too tight with no intention of releasing. She remained on the ground, and Shuichi didn't think she had enough strength to even stand; she was that frightened.

He edged towards here, aware of Yuki's silent yet watchful gaze. "Rika," he called her name softly, gently, "what's wrong? Why don't you tell oniichan? Come here, it's all right. Nothing is going to hurt you here."

Terrified eyes met his as she slowly got to her feet. For once heart-stopping moment, Shuichi thought she was going to run away from him. To his intense relief, she did just the opposite; she ran towards him, or more precisely, _behind _him. Shuichi tried to turn around to face her, but Rika had buried her face into his back, and had gripped a fistful of the back of Shuichi's shirt.

Shuichi's eyebrows knitted into a puzzled frown as he tried to figure out her sudden change in behavior. She was trying to make herself as small, as obscure as possible. It was as though she was trying to hide herself.

But from what?

After assessing the situation, Shuichi felt his stomach curl into a tight knot. Realizing with a growing dread that it was not a matter of 'what' but ' who' Rika was afraid of, Shuichi asked, fearing the answer, "Rika, are you afraid of that man," he pointed at Yuki, "over there."

Shuichi only closed his eyes wearily as he felt rather than saw Rika nod.

XXX

Shuichi mechanically chewed his instant noodles as he sorted out his troubled train of thoughts. After that episode with Rika, Yuki had left; all he said was that he had a plane to catch. Shuichi's heart plummeted at the thought Yuki might be mad at him. It was so hard to tell sometimes, since Yuki could be so cold. Still, he had promised to call every night, so maybe he wasn't angry after all.

His eyes fell to the loose flowers accompanying his dinner. They were a sad, lonely sight; withered, bruised and drooping, their once vivid colors seemed faded, giving them a listless look.

Noriko hadn't been able to supply answers to Rika's sudden panic attack so he had gone straight to Kureha. After a lot of arguing over what she insisted was 'classified information', she had finally given up thanks to his unrelenting persistence. She had told him that Rika's father, although ostensibly unidentified, was a foreigner. Apparently, he had managed to get away from the police when they came for Rika.

A foreigner with golden eyes. Just like Yuki's.

Shuichi sighed and fiddled with his chopsticks, twirling them round and round in the bowl, outlining the circular shape. He didn't even notice the soup sloshing over the rim of the bowl and onto the table.

He had his suspicions, and his senior had confirmed it. _Why did this have to happen? Of all things, why did Rika have to develop a fear of people with golden eyes? Her trauma ran deeper than even I thought. Now she thinks Yuki is the same as her lousy father. This is that stupid asshole's entire fault!_

"Ouch!" Shuichi quickly put his scalded fingers into his mouth, sucking them. He glared darkly at his bowl of noodles and mentally cursed them for supporting Rika's father.

XXX

_'The toads are falling from the sky-'_

Shuichi blinked sleepily for a moment. Realizing it was the mobile shrilly screaming for attention, he groaned,_ Shit! Why didn't I turn it on silent? _

_'The peasants caught them like gold-'_

His eyes simply refused to open. His right arm half-heartedly searched his bedside unseeingly in the dark, feeling for the mobile.

_'They danced for joy for the gold that was not-'_

Groaning even louder when he couldn't locate it, Shuichi cracked an eye open and was immediately sighted by the digital clock. _It's only 4am in the morning! The idiot who's calling needs to die!_

_'The rain fell, only it wasn't the rain-'_

Funny how Shuichi didn't realize he almost sounded like Yuki.

_'The peasants reached out again, fools them all-'_

The persistent ringing didn't seem like it was going to let up anytime soon. Grumbling and cursing, Shuichi made more effort in finding the banshee-like object. He felt it vibrating near his foot and grumpily nudged it up till his hand could grasp it. Eyes still determinedly shut, he yawned before pulling the mobile up to his ear.

'_And their screams played eternally, for it was acid rain-'_

"Hello?"

There was no answer. "Hello?"

_Not another prank call. This is getting on my nerves_. Annoyed, Shuichi groggily peered at the screen. His eyes shot open instantly and the haze of sleep was miraculously cleared from his mind as he jolted upright into a sitting position on the bed.

_It can't be...It just can't be!_ Shuichi whispered to himself, not even noticing that he was saying it out loud.

The number on the monitor wasn't a private id, it was a number listed in his phonebook. It was a number he was very familiar with. A thudding sound right outside his room door, thankfully locked, met Shuichi's ears and he huddled into a protective lump, hardly daring to breath.

His panicked gaze was alternatively switched between the door and his mobile. It couldn't be, and it shouldn't be, but it was, and the proof stared at Shuichi in cold block letters.

The call was coming from _inside_ his house.

* * *

Please forgive me for this cliffhanger! My inspiration just died and I couldn't get the words to flow even though I already planned what would happen next. I didn't go through, so it may have some grammar/spelling error. Feel free to tell me if you notice any. Well, till the next update! Hope ya'all like and enjoy! (Bows before running off) 


	5. 5th Shadow

Yep, I'm still alive. Thanks yer gods (or God) Actually, you should thank GravitationInnocence for this unexpected (?) update…they pm'ed me asking to update. That, and because I feel guilty leaving such a killer cliffhanger. Lol. Thanks a bunches for all the lovely reviews! Truly sorry I can't personally reply to each and every one of them, but please know I truly do appreciate it!

I am one with Sutzina Zion in the new obsession with Naruto!! Have you guys ever noticed how easy Sasuke's clothes are to remove in the new season?! (Drools) He's now taller than Naruto…the perfect seme! WAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ahem, sorry.

Some have said that the previous chapter reminded them of 'When a Stranger Calls' which I'm presuming is a movie since I've never heard of it. And well, horror…? I never would have guessed any fic of mine would be associated with horror…since I'm to chicken to even watch those horror movie _previews_ at the cinema…Yea…I'm _that _cowardly…

Really glad Rika is so well loved by her audience! I dunno why but the moment I thought of writing a sequel, she just popped into my mind and I just knew I had to fit her in somehow.

Wow…That's a lot of babbling…

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I don't own this beautiful heaven of bishies and bunny bonking.

* * *

**5th Shadow-Yesterday is gone, but we're still here.**

He glanced at his mobile. Whoever who called had hung up. Willing his hand to stop shaking, he searched for a number and pressed call. It felt like a tortured eternity before his call was answered.

"Hello?"

Shuichi almost cried in relief at Yuki's voice; even though it sounded so very tired and annoyed, it was warm and familiar – It was safe.

"Shuichi. What do you want?"

Swallowing back an involuntary sob, he spoke; his voice came out steadier than expected, "Yuki…where…where are you?"

"I'm in Paris, just like I told you. Did you do something again? Don't tell me you really burned my bonsai to crisp."

Shuichi was shaking now, not only his hands, but also his entire body. His heart thumped louder, he fought to breathe, to overcome an on-coming panic attack. Beads of cold sweat were now forming on his forehead, slowly trickling down the side of his temples as they broke. He managed a cheerful tone, "Of course not! I was just checking. Make sure you remember my presents. And I want chocolate!"

An amused chuckle came across the static. "You don't have to remind me. Unlike someone, I don't have a short-term memory problem. Anything else?"

Shuichi hesitated, licking his dry lips, eyes still trained on the room door. "Well…" He trailed off, unsure.

There was no point telling Yuki; he was too far away to help, and it would only make him worry and unable to concentrate on work. _That _would be bad, because the more Yuki couldn't concentrate, the longer he would take to finish whatever he had to do, and that meant the time he spent away from home would have to be even longer.

Besides, it could only be his overactive imagination playing a trick or him. Maybe it was only a cat that had somehow gotten in and pressed the redial button on the house phone. Yeah, that was it. That _had_ to be it. "I just wanted to tell you that…I love you."

He could practically see Yuki rolling his eyes. "Right. So you told me already."

Shuichi clutched the phone tighter, as it was his lifeline. Almost whispering, he murmured, "Right…I did, didn't I? Um…well…good night."

"…Shu, don't call me if you have nothing important to say. I have a lot of things to get done here and I rather not have a five-foot long phone bill as a welcome back present, thanks all the same. Why are you using your mobile? What's wrong with using the house phone?"

"…"

"Hello? Hello? Damn it. Bloody lousy line."

"I…forgot."

"Idiot. I'll see you when I get back then. Bye."

"Bye…no – Yuki, wait!" He frantically yelled into the phone, but it was too late - Yuki had hung up. And so Shuichi sat there in the darkness, too afraid to even switch on the lights.

He strained his ears to listen to the slightest hint of disturbances, but none came. Unable to deal with the agonizing silence any further, he crept towards the door, grabbing the baseball bat he kept by the bedside for paranoia reasons.

Cautiously, he opened the door inch-by-inch and peered through the crack. There was nothing but shadows that greeted his eyes. He pushed the door open in one quick moment and squeezed his eyes shut. When nothing attacked him, he ventured out and looked both ways. Nothing. Feeling braver, he went downstairs, clutching the bat all the while. He checked each and every room and corner of the house.

After fifteen minutes and nothing showed up, he collapsed onto the couch in the living room and allowed the bat to slide out from his sweaty hands. He gave out a shaky breath, and tried to calm himself down. _There's nothing. The locks are all still in place, nothing's been stolen. Everything's undisturbed. Must have been a stray cat…_

Suddenly exhausted, he went back to the bedroom. He knew it was nothing but still…he bolted the door and double-checked it, just to be sure. He wearily flopped on the bed and was wiggling under the blanket when he suddenly stopped, feeling the wild panic bubble up his throat again. There was something in his bed.

Immediately, he scrambled out of the bed. He peeled the covers back, squinting as he tried to make out the foreign object on his bed. Stepping back to flip on the lights, he stumbled on something.

Completely on reflex, he reached out and grabbed hold of the nearest thing – which happened to be the curtains. It was a night of the full moon, and the soft moonlight spilled into his room, illuminating everything it in with an eerie glow. Pushing himself up, he stopped when he heard, and felt, a crumpling sound.

Looking down, his eyes widened instantly and he shot to his feet, all along staring at the thing smashed against his palm. It was a butterfly. Bright. It was bright, electric blue, and it was beautiful.

It was also dead.

Frantic eyes shot towards the bed.

A vivid blue painting beckoned him. They were poetically laid on his bed. They were everywhere. On the floor. On the chair. On the dressing table. Shuichi put his hand to his mouth, stifling back his urge to scream. His room had become a garden for the butterflies. An eternal garden, their final resting place. It was a grave.

A grave of the butterflies.

XXX

"Shindou-sensei."

"…"

Shindou-sensei!"

"…"

"Shindou Shuichi!!!"

Shuichi blinked, trying to shake the daze away as he heard someone calling him. "Huh…?"

A look of annoyance combined with slight concern was written on Noriko's face. "I said: you have a visitor. Rika-chan isn't acting up, is she?"

Shuichi gave her his trademark impish grin. "Of course not! I was wondering what to eat for dinner. I should take advantage to eat whatever I want since my housemate isn't here to snap at me for suggesting an all-night Pocky fest…"

Noriko smirked. "You mean your husband."

Shuichi inwardly winced. _At least Yuki isn't here today…the last thing I want is to draw attention to myself…_

A voice protested from the doorway. "You can't, Shuichi!!"

Whirling around, Shuichi was immediately met with a human energizer bunny - an energizer bunny with a cast.

Holding Ryuichi away at an arms length, he exclaimed in shock, " Ryuichi! What happened to your arm?! You haven't been doing stupid stunts have you? It's dangerous! Remember the actor who wanted to do his own bungee jumping scene instead of using a stuntman and smashed his head and died?! It was in –in – Argh! I forgot the title of the movie they were filming! Also- "

Ryuichi stared at Shuichi as he wrangled his hands furiously and rambled at top speed before quietly interrupting, "Shuichi, I'm a model."

" – And was paralyzed from – " Shuichi gave his long-time friend a weird look and said, "Yea, I knew that. So?"

Reading from Shuichi's blank face that he didn't get it, Ryuichi elucidated, "I'm a model. Not an actor. I _don't _have any stunts to perform…"

"…Oh yeah…Right." Shuichi sheepishly scratched his head, embarrassed. He gestured at Ryuichi's cast. "Um so…what _did_ happen?"

It was Ryuichi's turn to be sheepish. "Oh that…I um…broke it while bungee jumping for a stuntman…"

"…You _what_?!"

XXX

Shuichi took one last glance at his desk before sweeping out of the room, taking the lift to the ground floor of the hospital where Ryuichi was waiting. Ryuichi had insisted he eat 'proper' dinner with him and declared a ban on pocky, something Shuichi wasn't very happy about.

"Hey - isn't that Sakuma-san?"

"Hey, you're right! Do you think he'll take a picture with us?"

Shuichi mentally groaned at that. _Not again…why do these things kept happening to me?! Was it because I forgot to water Yuki's bonsai the day before yesterday?_ He fiddled with his mobile. _Maybe I should meet him at the restaurant instead._

"Shuichiiiii!!!"

…_Never mind…_

"Eehhhhhhh?? Shindou-sensei knows him too?!"

"Did you hear that? Shindou-sensei – "

" – Yes, and Sakuma –"

"Did you know that Uesugi Eiri...the other day…and…to Shindou-sensei!"

"No way!!"

Ryuichi came up to Shuichi, jogging a little. "Shuichi! Tatsuha is waiting for us at the front gate and…he…said…" His smile melted into confusion as he took in Shuichi's dispirited countenance. "What's wrong?"

Realizing with a jolt that he was frowning, Shuichi hastily shook it off and slipped on a sunny smile. "Nothing. Let's go!"

"But – "

Shuichi latched onto Ryuichi's arm and steered him towards the entrance, chirping, "It's your treat today! So tell me, did you meet anyone cool? Huh, huh? Tell me!"

Ryuichi laughingly obliged, "Well, there was this old guy I met at a photo shoot. We wanted to get a good shot of the beach while the sunset was just right. And you know what he did?"

"What did he do?"

"Well, he - …"

Shuichi mindlessly nodded goodbye at more than a few starry-eyed nurses as he semi-consciously filtered Ryuichi's chatter, occasionally saying, "And then?" or "What?" at the right moments.

_What's wrong with me…?_

XXX

"I don't understand why you married my brother."

Shuichi looked up from the menu to find Tatsuha grinning cheekily at him. "Huh?"

"I mean, I never knew you were such a babe-killer…" He sighed gustily, "All those pretty girls waving you goodbye…Say, if you ever get lonely, you can come to me."

"No, he may not!"

Startled, Tatsuha glanced at the upset-looking Ryuichi sitting next to him._ Is he jealous? Aww…how cute… _He smiled lovingly at Ryuichi, "Don't worry, Ryu-chan. I will always love you – "

Ryuichi glomped Shuichi sideways, announcing, "Shu-chan will come to me!"

Tatsuha face-vaulted. Just who whose boyfriend was he supposed to be anyway?

The melody of a mobile phone ringing filled the air and Tatsuha saw Shuichi reaching into his pocket.

Shuichi pulled a petulant face. "They were like that because Ryuichi was there! Sheesh. First Yuki, then Ryuichi. Why did you have to come to _my_ hospital anyway? Wasn't there a nearer one?"

Tatsuha exchanged a glance with Ryuichi before he replied, "There was, but Ryuichi wanted to go to yours."

Huffily, Shuichi stood up, "You guys are trying to work me to death! I'm going to the washroom."

Ryuichi stared as Shuichi disappeared into the crowd before looking at Tatsuha blankly, asking, "Doesn't he know he's our mascot yet?"

Tatsuha burst out laughing.

XXX

_Why? _

Shuichi stared at the mobile screen, leaning against the securely locked stall as its lights flickered.

_Again. Why?_

He was the only person in the washroom. The sound of water dripping from a tap broke the silence, in rhythm with the vibration of his phone as it silently rang.

_Why again?_

He didn't bother answering the call. He knew only the sound of a dead tone would greet him. He _hoped_ that the dead tone was all he would hear, because he wasn't sure if he wanted to hear anything else. He could only bring himself to stare numbly at the number calling.

_Home._

XXX

The car slowed to a stop right in front of Shuichi's house. He stared at the brick building. With nobody home to switch on the lights once night came, it was dark. The house seemed to be looming over them, threatening and dangerous. Shuichi shuddered.

"Shuichi, are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh. I'm fine. Thanks for the ride. Bye and goodnight!"

Ryuichi continued watching Shuichi carefully. Only after a few seconds had passed did he begin to unbuckle his seat belt. To Tatsuha, he said, "I'm off tomorrow right?"

Tatsuha scrunched up his face thoughtfully for a moment before nodding.

"Okay. I'll stay with Shuichi tonight then. Pick me up tomorrow?"

"Sure."

Confused, Shuichi only managed to say, "Huh?" while looking back and forth from Ryuichi to Tatsuha.

Ryuichi barely spared him a glance; he was too busy digging through the glove compartment. "Yuki isn't around – hey Tatsuha, have you seen my spare keys? – Is he?"

"You're sitting on them."

"Oh. So that was the lumpy thing I felt. No wonder my ass hurts."

Shuichi only grew more confused. "He's not around but…how did you know?"

Tatsuha smiled mysteriously at him, "Never underestimate my connections."

Ryuichi rolled his eyes. "Yeah. And this particular 'connection' happens to be your brother."

Shuichi stared at them in disbelief. _It can't be but…_ "Did you, by any chance, come because Yuki asked you to?"

Tatsuha groaned and his head hit the steering wheel. "Just don't tell him I let you know. He called me to check up on you yesterday. He sounded pretty worried…"

Shuichi was touched. _Aww…Yuki is so…_

"…about his bonsai."

_Stupid Yuki._

"All right. I've found my stuff now. Bye!"

Shuichi couldn't help smiling when Ryuichi practically pulled his arm off dragging him towards the house. It had been ages since he saw Ryuichi, and even longer since they had a sleepover.

"So…Shuichi, there's lots of things you'd like to talk to me about, right?"

Shuichi started to deny vehemently when the sight of Ryuichi's face pulling on a stubborn stern expression stopped him. He sighed ruefully in defeat and shook his head. Some things really _did_ never change. He never had been able to fool Ryuichi. Usually that would annoy him so much, he actually got a gist of how Yuki felt when he went on a random sugar high. Tonight though, he welcomed Ryuichi's presence. Anything was better than being left all alone in the place he called home. The place that was supposed to be sanctuary, which now made him feel so insecure without Yuki around.

He gave Ryuichi yet another smile; it was the most real smile Ryuichi had seen that night. "You wouldn't believe how much."

* * *

I'm so, so, so, so, so, soooooooooooooo absolutely sorry!! I've been a downright bum about updating. As some of you might already know (or guessed) I won't be updating very often for the next 2-3 months…if any at all. I know the story is getting really gloomy but…this is how I feel nowadays so please bear with me. It'll probably go all random and hyper soon. When it does, you'll know my exams are over. Lol. Thanks for sticking with me! 

Oh, this is an impulse job so please forgive any horrifyingly grave grammer/spelling mistakes! Thanks!


	6. 6th Shadow

It's me!!! The lousiest Gravitation fanatic on FF dot net!

A thousand apologies for the long delay. In my defense, I just completed my course. Right after that, I was hit with a horrid infection – swollen eye, swollen cheek, fever and the works. Couldn't sleep for four-five nights due to pain alone even though I was practically LIVING on painkillers. I took four different painkillers in a week and NONE worked for me. And after it eased off, bam! I had to surgically remove three of my wisdom teeth (the fourth isn't out yet) I shall now NEVER underestimate the horror of the dentist. I rather appreciate a chair that lets me grip the sides though. Keeps me from mauling the dentist. (OF COURSE it hurts, you smiling man-in-the-white-coat dude!!**  
**

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**Disclaimer:** Gravitation is a work of art by Maki Murakami. Aya regretfully takes no place in its most stimulating production.

* * *

**6****th**** Shadow-When there's no one left, look inside yourself.**

"I heard Sakuma stayed with you while I was away."

"Yeah. How's work?"

"Those incompetent idiots were completely useless. Went squawking like chickens at a slaughterhouse at the slightest hint of trouble."

Shuichi glanced at Yuki before refocusing his attention back onto the road. He slowed down as the traffic light turned red. "But everything's fine now, right? You're not going off again are you? You just got back after all…"

Oblivious to the semi-hopeful, semi-apprehensive tone in Shuichi's voice, Yuki shook his head. "Can't say. Even if I _do_ have to travel again, it probably won't be for a while. God," Yuki groaned as he shut his eyes, " I hate flying. Took me ages to find my luggage. You'd think they were smart enough to send it to the right _country_."

Shuichi slouched a little at that. "I see," he softly said.

There was no reply – Yuki had fallen asleep.

XXX

It was bright. Too bright.

Yuki groaned as he rolled to his side. He twitched as his hand landed on cool sheets. Eyes blearily creaked open. He hissed inaudibly as bright sunlight flooded into view, making his eyes tear up. He sat up slowly, squinting against the blinding sunlight. He glanced at the drawn curtains, irritably wondering why Shuichi had to open the windows as well. He frowned as his gaze landed on what truly woke him up – the empty side of the bed where Shuichi was usually found sleeping next to him.

Grabbing his watch off the bedside, (it read ten) Yuki's frown deepened. _Strange. Usually he refuses to leave the bed until he's hit the snooze button at least twice. I didn't hear the alarm clock go off even once. He actually woke up before it rang and didn't go back to sleep? _

Recalling the night before, Yuki realized Shuichi had been rather quiet. He had been exhausted from his journey back and so had been thankful for the peace. Shuichi had shaken him awake once they reached home; he vaguely remembered dragging himself out of the car and stumbling into bed. He assumed Shuichi had taken care of everything else, which explained why he was wearing bunny printed pajamas Ryuichi had given him as a joke for Christmas the year before – but that was beside the point.

He didn't like being kept out of the loop, and not knowing the reason behind his husband's peculiar behavior bothered him. Yuki got off the bed, scowling as he stalked towards the shower. He really needed to have a talk with Shuichi about his habit of throwing himself into work whenever something went wrong – he was seriously making too many visits to the hospital.

XXX

Rika chewed her bottom lip hesitantly as Shuichi sat down opposite her on the grass, cross-legged. He spread the cards out on the space between them, ignoring the wind as it playfully breezed through his hair. Satisfied with the arrangement, Shuichi nodded. He was supposed to test Rika's academic level, like numbers and alphabets.

Rika shifted a little and Shuichi's eyes immediately shot to her, relaxing a little as he followed her line of sight and saw a grasshopper. Rika was less guarded and more responsive when she was brought out to the garden, something that Shuichi had noted earlier on. Ever since then, he tried to conduct tests in the garden whenever possible. Shuichi rather suspected that she, like him, felt trapped in the white wardroom.

"Okay, Rika," he cheerfully said, attracting her attention, "today we'll be looking at colors! See these cards?" Shuichi gestured at them, "We'll be playing a guessing game, just you and me. Doesn't that sound fun?"

The little girl stared at him woefully, unsmiling, but he was fine with it. Shuichi had learnt to read Rika better and he knew the fact that she was actually looking at him meant she was, at the very least, slightly interested.

"Okay, here's how it goes. You point at a card, and I'll guess what color it is. When it's my turn, I'll say a color and you point at that card. How does that sound?"

A nod.

Shuichi clapped his hands together and grinned. "All right! You start first then!"

She started sucking her right thumb and stared at him.

"No? Okay, I'll start first then. Hmm…which shall I choose? How about…pink?"

Still sucking, she used her left hand and sat her loyal teddy bear on the correct card. Its beady eyes stared at Shuichi mournfully, as though asking 'Why me?'

Shuichi stared at that, bemused. "Err…" He scratched his head. "I guess that works too…your turn then."

She sat her teddy bear on another card.

"Green. How about blue?"

Again, she shifted her bear onto said card. Shuichi beamed at her, "Very good! I knew you could do it! Next?"

They continued that way until a shadow fell over them. Looking up, Shuichi blinked stupidly. "Yu…Yu-Yuki?"

The taller man rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's my name. Don't abuse it."

"What are you doing here? Did something happen? Do you have to go somewhere again? Oh crap! Don't tell me you noticed the coffee tasted weird? But I was so sure you wouldn't notice it since I added extra coffee beans into it and – It wasn't on purpose I swear! The soap bar just kind of slipped out of my hands and flew into the coffee pot and – Oh – I promise it isn't my fault your toothbrush looks just a _little_ bit black! I don't know what happened to it!"

Twitch.

"I don't know who it was that accidentally mistook it as my old toothbrush and cleaned the sink with it – "

Another twitch.

" – It was tattered anyway and I'm sure you wouldn't mind if it was used to wipe the syrup spilled on the floor – "

Yuki held out a hand towards Shuichi, as if to physically halt the steady gush of words. His other hand was massaging his temple. "Stop. Just stop."

Shuichi's ramble screeched to a sudden halt at that quiet command.

"I'm here because I wanted to, you happened, and no, I'm not going anywhere." Yuki's eyes seemed to be launching icicles. "As for the coffee, it didn't taste like soap, it _smelt_ like it. I poured it away and Shuichi, if you don't drink coffee, _please_, don't attempt to make any. It's hazardous for my health. Oh, you're paying for my next visit to the dentist and so _that's_ why my towel was sticky and I had to take a second shower." Yuki stopped for air before silkily breathing out, "And you know what else is driving me up the wall and through the roof?"

Shuichi had been cringing visibly at every word Yuki enunciated. Almost afraid to know, he squeaked out reluctantly, "Wh-what?"

"Worry."

"…Huh?"

"Very eloquent. Glad to see your intelligence hasn't been affected by the many years slobbering over Pocky and Playstation games with that rabbit humanoid by the alias of Sakuma Ryuichi. At least Tatsuha was born an idiot. That way, it's not possible for his brain cells to degenerate any further."

Irritated at Yuki's sarcastic jab, Shuichi regained control of his tongue (and brain) and shot back, "Don't bring them into this. You, worry? About what? How Paris doesn't like your clothes? I feel for you, but that's no reason to vent your frustration out on me!"

Yuki stared at him for a moment. How long had it been since Shuichi shouted so angrily at him? "Shuichi," he spoke slowly, as though to an idiot, "I'm worried about _you_. It's been so busy and frustrating lately; my blood pressure is rocketing through the atmosphere." Right now, his blood pressure wasn't the only thing going up; no matter how hard he tried to suppress it, anger was silently seeping into him. "I came back to see you. Something is bothering you and when I try to help, you push me away?"

Shuichi refused to look at Yuki. His gaze fell onto Rika, who had removed her thumb from her mouth and moved to hide behind Shuichi. Noticing a stray lock of hair, he absentmindedly tucked it behind her ear. Mechanically stroking her hair, he bit down his bubbling emotions and finally said, "Look Yuki. I appreciate your concern, but there's nothing wrong. You're making a big deal out of nothing."

Yuki voice was soft but chilling. "I don't think so. I f you're going to lie, at least look at me."

Shuichi determinedly fixed his eyes on Rika, saying nothing.

"Damn it – Look at me! You're always so obsessed with that brat. I know the reason, and I understand your pain; _I _was there. Still, you have to let go of the past. How long do you intend to stay like this? Are you hoping to find salvation in the girl who reminds you of yourself? Don't be a fool. Clinging onto the ghost of a memory isn't going to change your past. You're no longer who you were. You're you and I'm me. I _don't_ want you to change. You're not a child; stop being so selfish and making me worry."

_Let go of the past? Can I really?_ _What if the past doesn't want to let go of me?_

Past caring, Shuichi snapped, "Don't patronize me! You're not my teacher anymore! Worry? Well, could have fooled me! You disappeared to another country – you weren't there when I needed you, and now that you're back, you expect me to throw myself into your arms? Sorry, but the world doesn't revolve around you – or at least, mine doesn't! Nothing's wrong with me so you can just go back to your precious Kaori!"

It was suddenly silent. They both blinked at that.

Shuichi stared at Yuki, mind hazy. He couldn't even think straight anymore. Numbly, he wondered, _Where did that come from? We weren't even talking about her…what were we talking about then? Wait – why am I arguing with Yuki? I wanted to see him so much. Why won't I tell him what's wrong? …No…it's not that I won't, I can't. Why? I'm…angry…? No… Confused? Maybe… Lonely? Sad? Frustrated? Frightened? Insecure? Why…why am I shouting then?_

"Yuki…I'm sorry. Please leave me alone for a little while."

"Shuichi –"

"Yuki, leave now." _Before I say something I regret._

"I don't want to see you." _Before I say something I can't take back._

"Please." _Before I destroy us both._

XXX

Yuki threw his keys onto the coffee table as the door slammed shut behind him. Loosening his tie, he sank into the couch. Habitually reaching into his pocket for a cigarette, he paused when his hand found the target non-existent and cursed.

"What's wrong, Eiri?"

Startled for a second, Yuki glared at his assistant. She was the last person he wanted to see right now. He should have listened to Shuichi when he objected to giving Kaori a set of their house keys. "I told you not to call me that."

"I'm sorry, Uesugi-san. It was confusing calling you by your family name since I call your father that too."

"Forgot it. I hate that name."

"Very well, Eiri."

Yuki twitched at his name. He sighed. Not really up to dealing with his infuriating assistant as well, he let it go for now. "What are you doing here? I thought I gave you the day off."

"You did, but some problems cropped up. Our representative in France called up and said he urgently needed to speak to you. Since you weren't answering your phone, I thought I'd tell you in person." She placed her hand on his forehead. "Are you feeling ill? You don't look so good. I thought you were visiting Shindou-san."

Pushing her hand away, he coolly said, "I don't remember hiring you to be my mother. Stick to your job, or you may find yourself without one."

She smiled sweetly at him. "Of course I will."

XXX

"Red." _Anger._ "Purple?"

Point.

"Gray." _Loneliness._ "White?"

Point.

"Yellow." _Fear._ "Brown?"

Point.

"Black." _Emptiness_. "Golden?"

Rika didn't move and Shuichi repeated, "Golden?" _Yuki._

The six-year old stared at him for a moment before she suddenly grabbed the correct card, ripping it to many tiny pieces.

Shuichi exclaimed, "Rika, no!" as he grabbed her hands.

How did the color that represented Shuichi's lifeline be the very reason Rika had no will to live?

Firmly holding onto Rika's hands as she struggled, Shuichi shouted, "That's not the way to handle things! I know you're afraid, but I'm here for you!"

Just as Yuki was there for him.

"It's just a color! It may remind you of your father, but it isn't him!"

Just as he wasn't Rika.

"Why do you refuse to speak? Shutting your eyes, plugging your ears – that's just a way of escaping! Your problems won't go away just because you refuse to acknowledge them!"

Just as his wouldn't go away.

"You have to _look_, Rika! Take a good look at this card and realize what is it that you truly fear. You keep trying to look away – that's why all you ever think about is the fear. You build up walls to block the pain because you don't want to be hurt, but what you don't realize is that because of them, people who care can't reach you no matter how hard they try! _I_ can't reach you!"

Just as Yuki couldn't reach him.

"They keep getting thicker and thicker, and soon you'll forget the colorful world outside those blank walls. Your shields will become your cage!"

Just as his had.

"Do you want to be this way forever? Do you? Do you want to end up feeling all alone even when people surround you? Do you want to end up unable to reach out to people simply because you've never tried to? Well? Are you angry? Shout at me then! Use your voice and answer me! Do you, Rika? Do you want to end up like _me_?!"

Harsh breathing filled the air. The soft twittering of birds and the calming hum of insects felt so wrong in contrast. Rika hadn't moved an inch, having given up on freeing herself ages ago. Her eyes were two large pools of dark liquid and Shuichi couldn't even begin to fathom what she was thinking.

_Have I gone too far?_ Shuichi wondered as he released her. _Still, even if it frightens her, even if it pains her, all I've said is the truth. Facing the fear, however ugly it is, is the only way to take the first step. Without it, it's not possible to move forward. Both for her, and for me._

"Ri – Oomph!" Shuichi blinked as Rika suddenly launched herself at him. _Maybe I should try yelling more often…it seems a lot more effective…_

He smiled as she squeezed him so hard he could barely breathe. It would be all right now. The shields were still there, but they weren't closing in anymore. "That's right, Rika," Shuichi whispered as he lightly stroked her hair. "It's time to hack those stupid walls down. We'll learn to walk together."

XXX

Wondering why it took so long just to carry out a simple test, Noriko went off in search for them. The touching sight of the little girl clinging onto Shuichi brought a soft smile to her face. That is, until Shuichi choked out, "Uh Ri-Rika. Could you –urk – le-let me go now?"

Rika tightened her arms in response and Shuichi started wheezing. "Ri-Nori…ko!" He gasped out as he caught sight of the nurse. "He-help!"

Much to his chagrin, that was when she started laughing outright.

XXX

"Where is she now?"

Noriko gestured towards the door and Shuichi peeked inside.

"She fell asleep while you were checking your other patients. Can't say I'm surprised. It's been quite an exciting day."

"Exciting is an understatement."

Noriko laughed as Shuichi made a face. "At least it's better than being bored. Honestly, I'm quite relieved she's beginning to open up. She's only does that to you though…maybe it's because you're on the same mental wavelength?"

"Are you saying I'm six years old?"

Shuichi mock-glared as she giggled before peeking into the room again. An idea was beginning to form in his mind. "Noriko, get me Kureha-sensei."

XXX

The sound of keys jiggling resounded through the otherwise silent house. Yuki paused for a moment before flipping on to the next page of his book. He didn't know how to deal with Shuichi, so he wasn't going to. He was not compassionate, nor was he patient. Therefore, he wasn't going to try talking if all Shuichi was going to do was blow up at him. No, he was just going to wait for Shuichi to come to him.

The door to his study creaked open, and he saw a movement from the corner of his eye.

"Yuki…I'm back."

"…"

"Yuki…are you mad?"

"…"

"Of course you're mad. That was a stupid question."

Flip.

Shuichi sighed and dropped down next to him on the sofa. Not saying anything, he closed his eyes and tentatively rested his head on Yuki's shoulder. The other man made no movement, neither accepting nor rejecting the contact.

They remained that way for an hour before Yuki closed his book. His voice was soft. "Talk to me."

And so Shuichi did exactly that; he spoke about his insecurities, his fear, everything. The words seemed to flow freely from his mouth like a steady current of water along a river. Yuki didn't interrupt him; only let him ramble on until the river ran dry.

Once he was done, the first thing Yuki did was hit him with the book, hard.

Shuichi's eyes, which had remained closed the entire time, flew open immediately. "Ow!!"

Yuki calmly told him, "That was for being stupid enough to think I would have an affair."

Another whack.

"Ow!!"

"That was for being idiotic enough to not call the police."

Whack.

"Ow!!"

"That was for being foolish enough to think I actually _enjoy_ boarding a bloody airplane."

Shuichi blocked his head as Yuki's book loomed threateningly over it. "Yuki! You're ruining the moment!"

"What moment?" A second book appeared out of nowhere and whacked Shuichi's ribs with a thumping sound.

"OW!! Yuki, that hurt!"

"Good. It has its intended effect then."

"Geez, where did it come from anyway? It's so heavy!"

"It's a dictionary Shuichi. You might try looking it up sometime."

Shuichi stuck his tongue out at Yuki. "Whatever for?"

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "For starters, you could try looking up the word 'communication.' Not all of us are physic."

_Is he still mad? Argh! And he says I'm immature? He should look in the mirror sometimes…_Exasperated, Shuichi put the dictionary down and made to stand. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Don't be. It's no use if all you're going to be is sorry." Yuki caught hold of his wrist. His gaze was unrelenting. "I'm serious, brat. If something's bothering you, you can run, but only to me. Scream if you want to. Rant. Throw a tantrum. Be a child. You behave like one most of the time anyway," Yuki blithely ignored the indignant 'hey!' from Shuichi. "So I'm telling you – don't ever hide things from me again."

"Yuki, I –"

"That's an order Shuichi."

Shuichi rolled his eyes at Yuki's stern tone. "Yes, sir."

"Glad we're clear on that. And while we're on the subject, I may not be your teacher anymore, but I'm your husband. And forget Kaori – even if she wasn't an irritating, infuriating, sickeningly sweet meddler who sticks that overly large nose of hers into business that doesn't concern her, I still wouldn't look at her any more than I have to. Hell, I don't want to start an affair with anyone, male or female. You're more troublesome to handle than a hundred of them. After you, I don't even have the energy to cheat."

"Yu-ki!"

A hint of a smile softened Yuki's face at Shuichi's sulk. "Kidding. Go change. We're going out for dinner"

Shuichi saluted Yuki. "Affirmative!"

_Oh, almost forgot._ "Shuichi," Yuki called out, "come here."

Shuichi obligingly came, surprised when lips – unexpected, but more than welcome – brushed against his. They didn't stop until oxygen was needed. Yuki broke the kiss and gently pushed Shuichi towards the door. "Needed to collect my 'welcome home' kiss."

Shuichi pranced out before sticking his head in again. He cheerily sang "Yuuuu – ki!"

"Hmm?"

"About earlier…"

"Hmm?"

"You were so cute!"

"Hm – wha – ?"

Shuichi grinned cheekily at Yuki's confusion. "Didn't know you'd be jealous of Rika!"

"Wha – Shuichi get back here!"

Shuichi sidestepped the dictionary that came flying his way and chided Yuki. "Now, now Yuki. You could've have hurt someone with that. Be careful!"

"You little brat!"

Shuichi's laughter could be heard as he escaped to their bedroom. _Yes. I can do this. Just keep going. Don't look back, and it'll be all right._ Heart much lighter, Shuichi hummed happily to himself as he entered the shower.

XXX

Yuki heart, however, was heavy as he agitatedly drummed his fingers against the book. _Someone's been into our house? Don't tell me he was right? Damn. This just made things a whole lot more complicated._

His eyes narrowed sharply, and they were cold and hard. From where he was sitting, he could hear the faint sound of water splashing and over it, the melodious voice of Shuichi humming. Steeling his resolve, he reached his decision. _I won't let it happen again. It's time to call __**him**_

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Sorry Yuki's been such a lousy husband. I know the story is getting depressing…but it'll get better soon, I promise! I'm kind of wondering if this story still has readers though…. Review and let me know! Thanks! 


	7. 7th Shadow

Thanks to all my readers, and even more so to my beloved reviewers:  
**DarkMetalAngel of Destruction, StrawberryxxStars, AizSaku, Aacire, BrdomIsTheDvl, sayuri-girl, classic lashes xx, Saint Germain, Em-chan 01, Syne, GravitationInnocence, Anissina June, XxTypoMasterxX, inufan1369, cookie, eh.sure.whatever, Pika Neko, seras29, T.O.C.A, snowwhite4444 and Weekday Inu.**

Some of your questions will be answered in this chapter, while some won't. I prefer not to give too much away, else the suspense will be gone and you guys will get bored. I know you great people will understand! Many reviews commented or at least hinted on my lack of updates. So sorry about that, and thank you for sticking to my story.

Presenting chapter the seventh**  
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**Disclaimer:** I'm disclaiming, I'm disclaiming!!

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**7****th**** Shadow-Dreams are dreams, because they don't come true. Nightmares are nightmares, because they do.**

"Shindou-sensei."

Shuichi looked up at Noriko from his partially completed report. "Hmm?"

The purple-haired nurse handed him a few sheets of paper neatly clipped together. "Kureha-sensei said to pass this to you."

Shuichi took the proffered documents and scanned through them, a grin growing on his face. He stood up abruptly, startling Noriko. Zooming out of the room, he yelled, "You handle the rest! Bye Noriko! Thaaaaaaaanks!"

"Hey – wait! Sensei! Where are you going –?"

Maniacal laughter reached her ears and suddenly Noriko didn't want to know anymore. _Even someone as harebrained as him wouldn't self-prescribe medicine…Right?_

XXX

Yuki slowly sipped his coffee, enjoying the soap-less flavor as he read the newspapers. His phone rang.

_Finally. About time that psychotic geezer returned my call._ Eyes glued to a particularly interesting article, Yuki answered the phone. "Took you damned long enough."

"Yuki?" Came Shuichi's confused voice. "You were waiting for me to call?"

_Shit_. "No."

"Huh? But you just said –"

"Nothing. I said nothing." _Nothing you should know about._

"Err…okay…"

Yuki placed his mug back down on the table and leaned backwards into his seat. "I'm assuming you have a reason for calling me. Did something happen?" _Don't tell me he made his move already._ His heart constricted at that thought.

"No, no. I wanted to ask – could you come to the Nagasaki Theme Park?"

His breathing eased. "I could, but I rather not."

"Yuuuuuuukiiii – come!"

Yuki's brow knitted into a frown. "Now? Shuichi, aren't you supposed to be working?"

"That's why we're going there! For work."

"Congrats Shu," Yuki drawled, "Seems like you finally realized your life's calling was to be a clown. You have my sincerest blessings."

"No, I haven't!" Shuichi exclaimed, "Err… I mean it's not! And that's not sincere at all! Just come okay? I'll be at the main entrance! See you!"

"Wait – Shuichi? Shu?"

Yuki cursed at the arrogant 'toot, toot, toot.' _That stupid brat._

XXX

"Yuki! Over here!"

Yuki turned to the direction of the voice and caught sight of Shuichi waving madly. Even from that distance, he could make out the expression of blinding cheerfulness plastered on his face. It was almost enough to make him turn around and drive straight home, where the environment was more neuron-friendly.

Then again, since he had already taken the effort to drive all the way there, Yuki figured he might as well just humor Shuichi. Someone needed to keep an eye on him. Not that he was worried.

_Anyway,_ Yuki reasoned with himself, _it isn't too hot. Not too crowded either. _Of course, that was because most people had jobs to go to. Which brought him back to his original question. He was no expert on the matter but he didn't think gallivanting about amusement parks was part and parcel of Shuichi's job description.

He never voiced his question, because it was answered before he did. Rika was partly obscured behind Shuichi, her right hand clutching Shuichi's left. Dark eyes stared up at him and soft plump lips were slightly parted to form an 'O'. Dressed in a pink and white-checkered dress, she was the picture of innocence and no normal person with a heart could possibly resist her cuteness.

"What is that _thing_ doing here?"

It could be hypothesized that Yuki was heartless. It was unanimously agreed that Yuki just wasn't normal.

Shuichi pulled a face that was almost a perfect mimic of Rika's. "Rika's not a thing!"

Yuki could already hear the triumphant cackle of a migraine as it latched onto its favorite victim and prepared to haunt him all day long. He just knew he shouldn't have woken up that morning. Irritably, Yuki muttered, "Of course not. _Things_ aren't a waste of oxygen."

Running over the expected whine of "Yuki!", he interjected. "And I suppose this is what you mean by work? Really. I thought you'd be responsible enough not to take hospital patients out for a joyride."

Shuichi grinned at him. "All clear! I've got Kureha-sensei's approval, signature and all."

Damn. There went his wishbone. Out of the window and over the hedge.

Shuichi continued, "I think Rika's ready to mingle with people again and Kureha-sensei agreed. Theme parks are really fun!"

"Are you here for that thing's sake or yours?"

"Um…both?"

"Sure. Have a nice day and try not to make the evening news. Bye."

"Yuki!" Shuichi caught the sleeve of Yuki's shirt as he turned to go. "The ticket booth is that way!"

Yuki eyed Shuichi through his sunglasses. Shuichi had to be joking.

"Come on Yuki!"

Apparently not.

"No."

Shuichi put on a pleading face and coaxed. "Why not? It'll be fun! Rika wants you to come to. Don't you Rika?" Shuichi gently nudged the little girl closer to Yuki, and the look on Rika's face was in complete disharmony with Shuichi's claim.

Yuki returned Rika's look of revulsion triple-fold. "As if. She rather see me spontaneously combust into flames."

She didn't know what spontaneous or combust meant, but she liked the sound of flames. Seeing her fervent nod in agreement with Yuki's statement, Shuichi beamed proudly at both of them. "See? You're getting along so well already!"

Once again, Yuki and Rika exchanged glances. It took them only a split second to decide.

"OW!!" was Shuichi's cry of pain as each of his foot was stamped on courtesy of Yuki and Rika.

Shuichi doubled over, grasping his throbbing feet. Tears of pain pooled his eyes. He gasped to the backs of Yuki and Rika as they stalked off in opposite directions, "I-Im so ha-happy for you two!"

XXX

"Yuki, I'm going to get some ice-cream. Wait here with Rika 'kay?"

"Wait –"

"Don't worry! I'll be sure to get a cone for you!"

Yuki silently glared at the spot where Shuichi had disappeared among the throng of people. _It wouldn't hurt to actually listen before replying. Idiot._

He shifted his glare back on Rika, who was watching a magician performing tricks up on a stage. Noting that she was too absorbed to notice Shuichi's own vanishing act, Yuki was slightly appeased. _At least she isn't going to stare at me like I killed her precious pet bunny or something again. _

The excited chatter and laughter of the crowd irritated Yuki. The screaming and wailing of spoilt children who didn't get what they wanted irritated him further.

Yuki resisted the urge to just leave and shifted his weight to his other foot as the growing crowd burst into another round of applause. What was taking Shuichi so long?

A group of children ran past, their harassed-looking parents half-heartedly calling after them not to run. People were jostling and Yuki found himself being pushed about. _Great. If I lose track of her, Shuichi's going to start freaking out again._ _It's not like I don't have enough on my hands babysitting him; he just had to go bring a playmate along. _

His eyes fell on Rika. She was standing on tiptoes now, craning her neck as she pathetically tried to peer past the mountain of much taller people blocking her view.

Yuki scowled. Shuichi better be grateful. He bent over, scooped Rika up and deftly placed her on his shoulders.

"Don't struggle," he bit out before the surprised girl even had the chance to respond. Her hands instinctively rested on his head "Don't kick. Don't pull my hair. Don't hit."

Yuki felt her move and ordered in a bored tone, "Don't. I'll drop you."

She stopped moving and Yuki continued, "Don't think either. Just watch the stupid damned performance and wait for that damned stupid Shuichi to return."

He got no reaction, which was just the reaction he was hoping for. If it continued this way, he might actually tolerate their little outing without losing his temper even once.

XXX

Shuichi watched them from outside the ring of people. A smile of delight curved his lips upwards. Triumphant, he gave his ice cream a lick as he mentally crowed, _Success!_

Rika stayed still for about eight seconds. Only then, did she bite Yuki.

"Ow – you stupid brat!"

That was Shuichi's cue. He hurried towards them, almost mashing their ice creams on innocent on-lookers. "Rika, no!"

"I'm dropping her!"

"No – don't!"

"She – Ow!"

"Ahh!! Stop! Don't pull Yuki's hair! – Yuki! Don't pull her hair either!!"

"What hair? I was aiming for her nose! – Shit!"

"Rika! Let go of Yuki's nose this instant! Stop stop! Stooooooooop!!!!!"

XXX

"I thought you would behave better than that. How did you ever manage to get such a sweet-tempered, cute, innocent, adorable little angel so upset? I'm very disappointed in you, Yuki."

Yuki resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Shuichi severely admonished him. "If you like her that much, just get a pet. I can deal as long as _you _take care of it."

Shuichi glared at Yuki. "She's just a child!"

"That explains why you get along so well."

"I'm not a child!"

Yuki smirked at Shuichi's childish sulk. "Prove it."

Shuichi glared knowingly at Yuki. "Just drive. I'm not falling for that again."

"Really?" Yuki drawled as he turned the steering wheel with one hand. "What a pity."

Soon enough, they reached the hospital. It was dark, and the area was empty. Shuichi unbuckled his seatbelt and glanced at the back seat. He lowered his voice to a whisper, "She's sleeping now. I'll just carry her up."

Yuki nodded. "Be quick."

Shuichi did as Yuki bid. He put Rika to bed and hurried out of the building. He jogged towards Yuki's waiting car and paused. A quick glance told him nobody was there, but Shuichi had a nagging feeling there was somebody watching. Fear suddenly tingled down his spine. Hastily, he opened the door and slid into his seat.

"What's the matter?"

At Yuki's concerned question, Shuichi belatedly realized he was shivering slightly. "It's chilly out there. I should have brought a jacket!" Only his ability to lie smoothly surprised him more than the steadiness of his voice. _No, I'm not lying. This is just paranoia. I promised Yuki not to lie to him, and I'm not._

"Not what?"

"Huh?"

Yuki's eyes drilled holes into Shuichi's. They were concrete-hard, and just as unyielding. He repeated softly. "Not what, Shuichi?"

Yuki didn't raise his voice. He never needed to. His voice had a commanding tone in it. Shuichi hated that, more than he hated the way Yuki's molten gold eyes could turn so frozen, piercingly sharp. It made him squirm, and compelled him to jump up and rush to obey. It had been that way since day one meeting him as a teacher. While it was no longer razor-sharp and deliberately cruel, it still had it's hypnotizing effect.

He sighed. What was the point of fighting a battle? Yuki always won the war anyway.

"I…I thought there was someone there, that's all. It's just my imagination. You know how paranoid I am. Hahaha…" His unconvincing laughter trailed away when Yuki merely continued looking at him. Feeling stupid, Shuichi decided it best to keep his mouth shut.

"How long?"

"Huh?"

Yuki's face was set in stone. "How long has there been someone following you?"

"Like I said, it's just my –"

"Shuichi."

"A few days."

"And why didn't this come up in our little talk? You know, the one where you promised not to keep things from me. Let me guess – you forgot that as well."

"Yuki…" Shuichi felt the sickeningly familiar surge of emotions that reminded him just what a failure he was. "You just came back a few days ago."

Yuki merely gave him a look.

"It started_ after _you came back."

"Oh." Shuichi desperately wished he would at least blink. "Anything else you would like to tell me before it slips off your mind?"

"No…other than what you already know anyway."

Shuichi thankfully grabbed the opportunity to look out of the window when Yuki finally broke the eye contact. He breathed as Yuki shifted the car gears. The silence was uncomfortable and when it stretched almost to a breaking point, Shuichi couldn't take it anymore.

"What do you think of Rika?"

"Bratty, irritating, infuriating, annoying, aggravating, violent, impulsive, stubborn, stupid and painful."

Shuichi winced at each word Yuki crisply declared. At the last, he blinked. "Painful…?"

"Her teeth are sharp."

"Oh."

"Shuichi – "

"Ye-yeah?"

"Stop laughing."

At that, Shuichi started giggling out loud. "I can't help it! The look on your face was priceless!"

Yuki chanced a glare at him, but the effect was ruined when his lips quirked into a slight smile at Shuichi's gasps of laughter. "She reminds me of you, actually."

Shuichi stopped laughing immediately, and Yuki's smile grew at his predictability.

XXX

"…_you…"_

Shuichi sat on the swing. He swung back and forth.

_Back, forth. Back, forth. _

All around him, kids were laughing and running about the playground. His eyes fell onto the sandbox. Two girls were digging at the sand. Giggling as they conspired innocent pranks, giggling as they shared little secrets.

_There. _

The mothers of the children stood there, lovingly watching over their children. They laughed as they chatted about the latest episode of a soap opera, laughed as they gossiped about their nosy neighbors.

_There._

The fathers were sitting on a bench there, occasionally looking as their children called. They were laughing too. Not as loud as the wives, or their children, but they were still laughing. Laughing over a particularly amusing football match, laughing over their business rivals misfortune.

Shuichi wasn't laughing. He had no one to laugh with.

_Here. _

Shuichi watched all alone here.

"…_I…"_

No, he wasn't alone. Someone was pushing him back and forth.

_Back, forth. Back, forth._

"…_you…"_

That someone was calling him, but Shuichi couldn't hear it. He strained his ears but it still wasn't coherent. He realized why. It was the laughter. It was too loud.

He tried to turn his head, to look backwards. He wanted to know the owner of the voice. He wanted to know whom those hands he felt on his back belonged to.

_But he couldn't._

It was the laughter. He wanted to tell them to be quieter, to be silent.

_But he couldn't._

Because suddenly, he realized they were all laughing at _him_.

XXX

Shuichi sat up suddenly, drenched in sweat.

He instinctively looked to his left. Yuki was there, sleeping peacefully. Desperate for reassurance, he lightly traced Yuki's cheek. He shuddered slightly as he released a long, deep breath, almost crying when he felt it. Soft, smooth and solid.

_Real_.

Once his heart rate returned to normal, he slid off the bed. Brushing his lips against Yuki's cheek gave him a sense of calm. He glanced at the clock. Six thirty. Deciding it was useless trying to go back to sleep, Shuichi left the bedroom. The door closed with a soft click.

Yuki stirred, but didn't wake up.

XXX

Yuki stared at the most abnormal scene that greeted his eyes and leaned against the doorway, feeling tired even though he just got up. It was simply too early for this. "Shuichi, I thought we had that home safety talk years ago."

"We did."

"Then why are you still doing dangerous things?"

"Cooking isn't dangerous!"

"You're right. It's a health hazard."

"That's the same thing!"

"Glad you noticed."

Shuichi waved the spatula at Yuki and glared. "I'm just frying eggs! They're perfectly safe!"

"Okay. So the smoke that woke me up is part of the recipe?"

"Of course not! That was the toast!"

"…Shuichi…"

"What?!"

"Your apron is on fire –"

" – Like I'm telling you – it's saf – Aaaaah!!!! My apron is on fire!!!! Aaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!"

XXX

Shuichi motioned Yuki to bent down. As expected, Shuichi gave him a kiss. Before he could straighten, Shuichi blew into his ear. Shivering, Yuki glared at Shuichi and rubbed his offended ear. "Shuichi!"

Shuichi cheekily waggled his fingers at him, giggling. "Love you too!"

As exasperating it was, his irritation – as always when it came to Shuichi – drained away rapidly. He couldn't even force himself to _sound _angry. "Whatever makes you happy. Don't be late."

"Sure! Bye!"

"Bye. Be careful." In fact, he even sounded _affectionate_. Inwardly belching at that horrifying thought, he shut the door.

Not two minutes later, the doorbell rang. Unsurprised, Yuki opened the door.

A tall American with silky blond hair held up in a high ponytail whipped his dark sunglasses off. "Mr. Yuki. It's been a long time."

Yuki merely nodded and gestured for K to enter. _Not long enough._

XXX

Yuki studied the various documents, reports, photographs and clippings scattered over the table. "Is this everything?"

K nodded. "Mr. Shindou – senior, I mean – "

Yuki didn't take his eyes of the reports. "Just call Shuichi by his name."

K shrugged dismissively. "Fine by me. Been working as a private investigator for a few years now, thanks to Mr. Shindou's help. I owe him big time, so as soon as he called, I got in touch with my contacts. From my extensive network connection, we collected every scrap of intelligence. I doubt you'll find anything more than we already have."

Yuki picked up a photograph and studied it. "Where is he now?"

"I'm not sure but…"

Yuki looked up at the slightly hesitant tone. He prompted, "But?"

K put an envelope on the table, looking troubled. "I found this outside your house early this morning while I was checking the compound."

Yuki stared at the content of the envelope and was silent for a full minute. When he finally spoke again, he was curt and sharp. "Follow Shuichi. Don't let him out of your sight."

K nodded. Years of experience in the police force had taught him a thing or two about reading even the most emotion-deficient person, and he wasn't fooled by Yuki's calmness as all. 'Keep him safe,' his expression conveyed.

"I will," he promised.

He left the house, and Yuki sat staring at the object in his hand. How could a piece of paper stir up such inner turmoil within him?

'_I'm watching you.'_

* * *

…Even when you take a shower and pick your nose. Woooooooo… 

Lol. I'm trying to keep it from getting too creepy, but it is. Why??? It's not going the way I want it to…Ehem, anyway, please review. Reviews are _the _love! Plus, look at how much faster I update with reviews. No, really. My updating speed truly does depend on reviews….

…. And tomorrow is another visit to the dentist. I think I'm beginning to emphasize people with fear of the dentist…

Ps: Some of you might wonder why Shuichi is still hiding things from Yuki even after he promised not to. Remember, Shuichi has been hiding things from people all his life. He's so used to being solitary, he does it without even thinking. It takes time for him to open up. Yes, even to someone he really loves. In fact, I think it's even harder that way because he fears rejection so much more. It's not that he doesn't trust Yuki, but more that he feels unworthy of being accepted. Pretty screwed up but everybody's different and he's no exception. That's about it. Anybody with an alternate opinion can leave his or her idea. It's open to debate! Lol.


	8. Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Chapter eight has been temporarily removed for some patching up. I'm terribly sorry but I just realized I'm missing a WHOLE SCENE! No wonder it was short enough to be squished into a single chapter…pretty much everything will stay the same, except for some confusing parts here and there. I'll probably end up splitting the original chapter 8 into two chapters. I won't take long, I promise. In fact, the spilt chapters will probably be posted today or tomorrow, depending on how much I need to add/change.

Please accept my apologies,

Ayamekashi


	9. 8th Shadow

Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter seven: 

**XxTypoMasterxX, BrdomIsTheDvl, sayuri-girl, classic lashes xx, inufan1369, T.O.C.A, DarkMetalAngel of Destruction, Aacire, Em-chan 01, Weekday Inu, ****cort-chan, ****snowwhite4444, Flameangel906, CrymsonTear, ****chocho, absolute-ecstasy, AoMe Hs, Sutzina Zion, capricorn2645, mia, mia, i love athrun and GravitationInnocence**

And to those who reviewed the original chapter eight (wow, this is confusing…):

**GravitationInnocence (It was dropped so quickly because I forgot to add that scene…please don't kill me! XD)  
Yami-no-Hikari-7 (Hmm…That sounds like and idea, but they'd probably drive Shuichi nuts)  
capricorn2645 (You'll find out who soon)  
tsubaki-dono (Yeah, it was anticlimactic. Missing scene. Sorry!)  
Kiiriya (Well, he's still alive…lol)  
anon(I'm not sure, but I'd like some too)  
gravichick (A pizza place. Thank you! I seriously need ideas…My muse has gone on permanent holiday)  
absolute****-ecstasy (No worries there. The story is going to on for at least six more chapters…at least. The father part? That was the missing scene. Sorry! That part that had you confused was Shuichi's dream. Who was it? You can guess. I've altered that part so it's obvious who it is.)  
XxTypoMasterxX (Thank you!)  
DarkMetalAngel of Destruction (Thanks)  
cOOkiesNm1lk (Ah. The reviewer of the day. I think my head's bloated up from all the praises; it'll burst if you prick it. ) Thank you.)  
**

* * *

**Disclaimer:** Merry had a little lamb…

* * *

**8****th**** Shadow-How does it feel to be different from me?**

"Ow!"

Shuichi looked up at the owner of the voice he had almost bowled over in his hurry. "I'm so sorry! I was rushing – late for work! Didn't see you there! You all right?"

He smiled at him and Shuichi couldn't help noting his perfectly straight pearly white teeth, in sharp contrast with his dark sunglasses.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I should have looked where I was going instead of at this." He shook a leaflet in his hand. He had nice hands. Long, slim fingers. And he was tall. Taller than Yuki, which was _really_ tall.

"Excuse me…?"

Shuichi realized he had been staring and flushed. "Oh yes, I'm sorry. You were saying?"

A rueful grin appeared. "I'm lost. All the wards look the same to me. Since you work here, I was wondering if you could show me the way – How rude of me. I didn't even ask for your name."

Shuichi grinned at him. "Shuichi. Shindou Shuichi. And of course I could!"

The other man's smile deepened. "Shuichi, " he repeated, "it's a pleasure to meet you."

Already turning around to lead the way, Shuichi asked, "So whom are you visiting? Number?"

"My kid. 311. I believe you know her."

Shuichi froze. _That's Rika's room. He said he was visiting his kid so he must be – _"Shit." he breathed out.

"Language, Shuichi. And we were getting along so nicely too. Now walk. And remember to smile."

He had to choice but to obey the deceptively pleasant, harmless voice. He forced his lips to curve up into a stiff smile as a group of giggling nurses passed, eyeing Rika's father. How could they not see how dangerous he was? There was something cold, blunt and hard digging painfully into his back, and Shuichi didn't dare check what it was.

"Get in."

Shuichi pushed the toilet door open as slowly as he could. The other man didn't wait. He shoved Shuichi in and stepped after him, locking the door as he did so. He leaned almost lazily against the door and smiled at him again. "Why so tense? Don't you want to get to know me better?"

He almost sounded hurt but Shuichi was concentrating on the gun trained on him.

"Turn around."

Shuichi hesitated. If he made a rush for it, maybe he could catch him off guard and somehow wrestle the gun away –

"I don't think so. I haven't exactly used this before," he waved the gun a little. "Borrowed it from the stupid cop who tried to detain me. If you don't do as you're told, I might get a _little_ upset, and my finger might _just _slip – "

Shuichi turned around.

"Now lets play a little game."

Shuichi heard footsteps nearing him and then the disgusting feeling of warm breath on his neck. He chocked out, "Why are you doing this? And why me?"

"Because," a silky whisper caressed his ear and Shuichi shivered, fighting the urge to break away, "I like you."

Shuichi's breath caught. His heart was pounding so hard. Why hadn't it exploded yet? "And I believe," hands were running down his back now, "we could be _very _good friends."

Shuichi couldn't help but to cry out in shock, as he felt cold burning pain. A trembling hand reached for the source of the pain. Pulling it away from his back, Shuichi numbly stared at his blood-covered palm.

"Isn't this fun?"

He was smiling in childish delight. Blood ran down the blade and trickled off, spotting the otherwise dry white tiles with drops of crimson.

He squatted down next to Shuichi, who had collapsed when his knees gave out. He duly noted that Rika was right. He had taken his sunglasses off and his eyes were a bright, curious golden. He was certain it was because of insanity. The gold was dimmer now, but they were swirling round and round.

"Oh come on. Don't go to sleep. The fun's just beginning."

Shuichi wasn't so sure what happened next. He couldn't remember what happened first – the banging, the shouting, or the screaming. He didn't care either. There were so many faces cramming into his blackening vision. _Some people_, he condescendingly thought, _have no respect for hospitals_. Didn't they realize they had to keep quiet? If anyone asked later, he would blame it on blood loss. Decided, he shut his eyes and –

"What the heck are you doing here?!"

All activities halted at the sudden shout. The target of his question was crouching next to him. He eyed him for a moment before looking around with a serious look. "Everyone," he announced, "he's alive."

Any suggestion of sleep fled as his eyes widened further. Indignantly, he huffed out as he sat up. "Duh, I'm alive! Who's going to be lame enough to die on a hospital toilet floor with people watching? You still haven't answered my question! K!!"

The crowd in the third floor men's toilet of Sakasama Hospital was agape at Shuichi's miraculous recovery power. K carefully averted Shuichi's laser glare and addressed the nearest nurse. "You know how it is," He whispered loudly in a conspiring tone while shrugging, "hormones."

"K!! You crazy bast – ow…"

The groan seemed to be a cue. "You!" A doctor pointed at K as he pushed Shuichi back into a lying position. "You're aggravating the patient. Out!"

K shrugged as a male nurse nudged him outside. "Don't mention it. Just doing my job."

"K!!"

"Out!! And you, Shindou-_sensei_, lie down before I _sit _on you!"

XXX

Shuichi stared at K. K stared at Yuki. Yuki stared at the television.

Shuichi was getting frustrated, K was getting frustrated, and so was Yuki. "Damn," he muttered. "I missed the last episode…."

That did it. Shuichi snapped. Fifteen minutes of silence can do that to you. "Yuki!! Why is K following me around?! I don't need a bodyguard!"

"No," Yuki agreed, "You need a babysitter."

"Ahem." K's cough earned him their attention. He got up from the plastic chair. "I'll be waiting…outside…if you need me – "

"You're not going anywhere. Sit down."

K opened his mouth, caught Shuichi's eye, regretted it and sat down again.

Yuki abruptly spoke. "It's for your own safety. Look at what happened today. You could have died."

"I can take care of myself."

"I hate to know what your definition of 'take care' is if it lands you in the hospital bed. I was right. You really do need to look up a dictionary more often."

Shuichi scowled. "It's just a few stitches. The stupid hospital should just let me go. I don't need observation."

Yuki switched of the television and put the remote down, glaring at Shuichi. "And you still have the nerve to say that? If K hadn't been keeping watch on you, you'd probably make the headlines. I'd be given the hassle of arranging your funeral, if your body was even still around. K stays, it's final. You stay in the hospital, that's final too. Now shut up and get some bloody rest so we can bloody go home tomorrow."

Biting back a scathing retort, Shuichi reiterated instead. "We?"

"We. If you think I'm letting you out of my sight, you can think again. K can go back for today. Take a break from you. I'm sure he needs it." Yuki paused to return Shuichi's scowl. "Can't blame him."

XXX

Yuki frowned as a police officer entered Shuichi's temporary room. He didn't like leaving Shuichi all alone to deal with him, but it couldn't be helped. He had no say in this matter. Remembering their previous encounter with the police, Yuki forcefully insisted on staying right outside Shuichi's wardroom. If the guy said anything to upset Shuichi, or blamed it on him –

"He's one of my guys. Shuichi will be fine with him," K said, reading Yuki's tense expression correctly. "And just to be sure, my number one wife here," he gave his gun a loving gaze before smirking, "had a little _chat_ with his head, up close and personal."

Oh. Problem solved then. Yuki unfolded his arms and relaxed. "So what happened?"

"Like you asked, I was following Shuichi around. I didn't want to enter the hospital at first, since I figured it would be safe in a place this crowded. Thought I might give him some space, you know? That was a mistake."

_Flashback_

"Damn," K muttered as he rummaged through his pockets. He couldn't believe that he, K, a professional investigator, gunman and sometimes spy, had forgotten to bring his wallet along. He was stuck in the car with no ID, no driving license and no money. To top it all off, he couldn't even make a quick drive home because he was low on petrol.

No choice. The only solution was to borrow some cash from Shuichi. K sighed as he got out of the car. Yuki was _not _going to be happy if Shuichi got suspicious. He needed an excuse for being in the hospital. A good one. He wondered if it was too much to injure himself. Definitely too much, he decided. It would be much better to injure someone else, drag him into the hospital, and pretend it was all a minor accident.

He was still contemplating on that idea when he caught sight of Shuichi dashing across the lobby, looking flustered. He hung back, still trying to decide on an excuse. He saw it coming and winced as Shuichi collided with a tall man looking at something he held.

"Good morning, sir. How can I help you today?"

Without realizing, he had been standing in front of the receptionist. He flashed the young lady a friendly grin. "It's all right. I'm looking for someone who works here, Shindou Shuichi."

She smiled back. "Shindou-sensei should be up on the third floor. I hope you find him."

"Thanks." K looked over at where he last saw Shuichi and blinked. Shuichi was gone. K scanned through the lobby and sighed. _That was fast…No choice then. Third floor it is._

K was getting just a tad worried. He sped up his pace as he walked along the hallway. No Shuichi anywhere. He had asked everyone he had seen where Shuichi was, and they didn't know. A purple-haired nurse came his way, frowning. He tapped her shoulder as she walked past. "Excuse me, do you know where I might find Shindou Shuichi?"

She jerked in surprise and exclaimed, "I'm looking for him as well! We're behind schedule and I can't find him anywhere even though he's signed in!"

Okay. That was it. K could no longer ignore the uneasy gut feeling that told him something was wrong. Very wrong. His mind raced through the possibilities of Shuichi's location. Shuichi had been late for work. Obviously, he would rush to where he was supposed to be, on the third floor. The nurse said he had signed in, yet she couldn't find him anyway. Then Shuichi could only be in – "Where is the washroom?"

Noriko blinked as the American suddenly asked a completely unexpected question. "It's- it's just over there, right after the corner –"

K immediately took off in that direction, with a confused Noriko hurrying along. He tried the toilet door. Locked. He pressed his ear to the door. Soft murmurs met his ear, and very faintly, the sound of moaning. "You!" He shouted at Noriko while ramming the door. "Go get the security guards and the janitor – quickly!"

"Rig-right –! The janitor –?"

"I need the keys! Go!"

K pressed his ear against the door again as Noriko dashed off. "Damn," he muttered angrily, "door's too thick." This was no time for a janitor. He released the safety hatch of his gun, aimed it at the lock and fired. Vandalism was exaggerated anyway. Kicking the door open, he was greeted with a flash of steel. It was a conditioned response. K immediately grabbed his assailant's arm and twisted it behind his back, forcing him to let the knife go. A sharp knock forced the other man to his knees.

Two security guards came rushing in, a bit too late in K's opinion. They took charge of his struggling captive, who sneered at him. "He's mine! _Mine_, I tell you! He and Rika both!"

There were nurses and doctors there, attracted by the commotion. Someone screamed and K spotted Shuichi; he immediately had to force down a tide of anxiety. Shuichi was lying in his own pool of blood. He was very pale and his eyes were closed. The doctors got into action immediately. K neared Shuichi and crouched down next to him. "Don't move him," a doctor warned, which turned out to be unnecessary when Shuichi's eyes suddenly flew open, and started shouting, proving that he was very much alive.

_End flashback_

Yuki was deep in thought as K finished narrating. "I see…" He murmured.

"He's confessed to following Shuichi, in fact, he's downright proud of it. Police found dozens of Shuichi's photograph in his car. Seems he had a hobby of carving on them too. There were various other disturbing things found in his car and some unidentifiable. It seems like it wasn't who we thought after all." K looked at Yuki expectantly. "What do you want to do now?"

Yuki was silent for a moment. "He hasn't confessed to breaking in or calling Shuichi, nor has he said anything about leaving that message you found. I don't like this. Take no chances. It may be that asshole after all. I won't let that bastard near him ever again. Continue watching him."

K nodded. "Affirmative."

Just then, the door opened and the police officer, Minagawa, stepped out. Seeing Yuki and K, he gave them a kindly smile.

Yuki curtly asked, "Are you done?"

"Yes. We'll contact you again soon. The case is more or less wrapped up, but we still need to go through legal procedures. It was clearly an unprovoked assault on Shindou-san. His attacker, only known as Jason, is clearly mentally unstable and seems to have developed an unhealthy interest in the victim, blaming him as the reason his daughter was taken away. Combined with the abuse of his daughter, it's safe to say he will be staying behind bars for quite some time."

Yuki gave a curt nod before entering Shuichi's room. His frustrated mutter of "God, what is it with Shuichi and stalkers?" could be heard by the two men standing outside.

XXX

_No._

_Stop. _

_Please don't._

_I'll be good, I promise._

_Where are you? _

_Save me._

"_Did you think you could ever escape?"_

XXX

His eyes shot open, wildly darting around the unfamiliar room. No Ryouji. No mother. Nobody at all. Why? Why was he getting nightmares of his mother's abusive boyfriend? They had stopped years ago. Just one encounter with a psychopath with a fetish for carving on his back was enough to break Shuichi's already fragile mental barriers.

He forced himself to lie still and soon the heavy haze of panic thinned. He shifted and panicked again when he felt someone next to him. It was only Yuki, who had fallen asleep in his chair. Shuichi carefully sat up and reached for the glass of water on the bedside. His throat was so dry and it felt like there was a lump lodged deep into it. He felt so uncomfortable – he was sticky with sweat and there was a dull throbbing pain from where he had been stitched up. _The painkillers must have worn off.__I can't sleep. Better get some work done then. Wonder what time it is._

Shuichi silently got off the bed, wincing a little as his body protested to the movement. _Great, it's only 11pm. I wonder how my patients are doing today? I hope someone took over for me today._ He opened his file and scanned through the various records. Finding what he was looking for, he studied the particulars of Shirachou Rika. A date caught his eye and he gasped out loud in surprise before he could stop.

"Shuichi…?"

He looked at Yuki who was yawning. "Sorry! Didn't mean to wake you up."

Yuki walked over to Shuichi and looked over his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

Reminded of his little discovery, Shuichi jabbed at the print. "Look Yuki! Rika's birthday is in exactly one month! Isn't it incredible?"

"No," Was Yuki's automatic reply. "So it's her birthday. It happens to everyone every year. What is there to be excited about?"

Shuichi gave Yuki a sly grin. "Well, I have this idea – "

"Is this the part where I get worried?"

Shuichi just gave Yuki a winning smile. Yuki inwardly groaned. It was definitely time to get worried. Very worried.

"I was thinking it's been a really long time since we had a get-together. So maybe we could celebrate Rika's birthday at our house – nothing big!" He quickly reassured Yuki when he got a doubtful look. "Really – it'll just be a small private dinner – "

"Also known as a wild noisy circus."

" – It's been ages since I've seen Hiro and I'm sure you miss your sister too – "

Shuichi ignored the snort from Yuki and steamrollered on. "It'll be a blast."

"A 'blast' isn't a strong enough word." Yuki muttered under his breath.

"Oh come on Yuki. Pleeeeeeeeaseeeeeeeeeee?" There it was. Shuichi's coaxing pout. In Yuki's opinion, it was unfair such a lethal weapon existed.

"I love you so much."

Those words were pretty dangerous too. Yuki hesitated. The scare he received when K had called him earlier…it frightened him to realize just how much his world revolved around Shuichi. Even so, he was a selfish bastard. He would never let Shuichi go. Shuichi could have died, or worse. Surely allowing his home to be invaded by rabid monkeys just this once couldn't be that bad…he already had one living with him anyway…

"I promise to clean up."

That did it. He was gone.

He scowled darkly at the ceiling, as if it was the poor ceiling's fault. "Not too many people."

"Yessssssss!!! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!!! Leave everything to me!"

Yuki found himself with a hurricane in his arms in an instant. He was already regretting his decision. "Shuichi, for curiosity's sake…how is this 'get-together' going to be like?"

"Oh that!" Shuichi beamed exuberantly up at him. "It's going to be just like that time K joined us for dinner while I was still in high school!"

Yuki stared. "Which was joined by Nakano, Sakuma, Tatsuha, Mika and Tohma, and included my fish bowl, jelly and a mop?"

"Yes."

"No!"

* * *

This is it for now. I'll post up the second part of the original chapter eight tomorrow, or in a few days. It's going to be slightly extended. I know Shuichi hasn't said much about his attack, because he doesn't want to talk about it. Maybe he'll feel more like it after Rika's birthday. I hope this cleared up some confusion. Once again, so sorry for my mistake! If there's any spelling/grammar mistake, please point it out because I'm too tired to go through this chapter again. 

Please review! Go on. Click on that nice little button and type away to keep a review-craving author high! XD Thank you.


	10. 9th Shadow

Thanks to the following for reading, and reviewing after:  
**snowwhite4444, capricorn2645, vyravyra, GravitationInnocence, Saint Germain, DarkMetalAngel of Destruction and inufan1369**

As promised, part two of the original chapter eight, with extensions**.  
**

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**Disclaimer:** No duh.

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**9****th**** Shadow-It was a lie when they smiled and said you wouldn't feel a thing.**

The next few weeks passed without anything catastrophic happening. Rika's father was handed over to the police, but no major decision had been reached. Shuichi was released from the hospital and began his planning frenzy, much to Yuki's apprehension. Shuichi suggested a costume party and sweetly asked Yuki if he still had his Snow White costume. Yuki had uttered language definitely not befitting a fair damsel in distress and Shuichi hastily dropped the idea. Soon, it was the day of the party.

_Shit. This is way too soon. _Yuki face was eerily similar to a violent thunderstorm.

"Done!" Shuichi stuck the last of the streamers to the wall and looked around the room. He mused, "Maybe I should blow up more balloons…"

Yuki negated his idea immediately, testily pointing out. "If you blow more balloons, we wont even see the floor anymore."

Shuichi argued back, "We can always stick them to the walls!"

Yuki silently glanced at the walls. Following his gaze, Shuichi mumbled, "Oh."

Yuki snapped, "You're overdoing it Shuichi! The last time I checked, my walls were _white_. What is with all this graffiti?! And _snowflakes_? It's not bloody Christmas!"

As if on cue, the sparkly pink banner that read 'Happy 7th Birthday Rika!' came loose and floated down to Yuki's head. He snatched it off and retreated to his study, locking the door securely behind him.

Shuichi stared at the empty doorway, bemused. "Yuki?" He called out. "I kind of need that banner – "

The door opened and the banner came flying out before it was shut again.

XXX

Yuki stared at his couch, or rather, the _thing _on the couch and mentally promised Shuichi torture. Two years worth sounded appropriate. Two minutes ago, Shuichi had gave him a bright, cheery smile before chucking Rika at him and dashed off, chattering about roasting a chicken.

_Why couldn't he just leave her in the living room? My study is __**mine**__ for a reason. _Yuki sighed and turned back to face his desk. Rika watched him unblinkingly as he rummaged through his drawer.

"Come here."

She just continued staring at him, giving him a condescending, haughty look.

Yuki gave a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. _Please_ come here."

She slid off the couch, and slowly approached him, eyeing him in a way a mouse would look at a hawk.

"Stop that. I already ate."

Slightly appeased, she moved just a little faster.

"Turn around."

She hesitated, ready to bolt. To be trapped in a room with just the bad-tempered scary man was just a bit too –

"Are you mentally challenged or just blind? The door is wide open."

That changed everything. Easier to run away, she decided. She stiffened when she felt something touching her but relaxed when the touches remained gentle and fleeting.

"A bit too big. Maybe I should have made it shorter – no…you'll grow into it. You can turn around now."

She did so gladly. Her back had felt so exposed – a soft bundle was immediately pressed into her arms. She automatically clutched them when Yuki let go.

Yuki swiveled back to his desk. "That's for you. Now, go entertain yourself. Play something that excludes disturbing or annoying me. Playing dead is an excellent choice."

Rika looked at the dress in her arms. Pale turquoise. Her favorite color. Maybe the bad man wasn't so bad after all. She felt a twinge of regret. It was unfortunate, but she would have to abandon her plan of kicking Yuki.

XXX

Dinner started without blood staining the house.

"Eat up!" Shuichi cheerfully beamed. "The chicken's not done yet so we'll eat the other stuff first."

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "I thought you started with the chicken."

"That was the first chicken."

The eyebrow shot up. "We have a second?"

"It…ah…that…um…" Shuichi gave an innocent smile. "I don't think it was supposed to turn black…haha…ha…"

Yuki gave him a look that quelled his nervous laughter. "Next time, we're going to cater food. Not that it would be a problem, since we won't be having a next time."

Yuki was seated in between Shuichi and K. On Shuichi's other side was Rika, followed by Ryuichi, Tatsuha, Mika, Tohma, Hiro, and back to K. It had been ages since Shuichi saw Hiro and wasted no time interrogating him while stuffing his mouth. In no time, the whole table was filled with laughter and the soft clinking of culinary against plates.

Yuki had no idea how it started.

One moment, he was talking to Mika. Or rather, Mika was talking – something about the baby pressing down on her bladder and how she couldn't see her feet anymore – he was busy ignoring. The next moment, he felt something warm and mushy on his cheek. He swiped it away to find…mashed potato. His eyes gained a dangerous glint as he icily asked, "Who, was that?"

It was a soft question, but commanded attention. He looked at Shuichi, who squeaked out defensively, "Not me!" before his eyes fell on Rika, who balefully looked back at him. Not her then. She was wondering why she hadn't thought of that earlier. The entire table was silent except for a sputtering sound. Yuki zoomed in on Tatsuha. Catching his look, Tatsuha burst out laughing. "Sorry, bro but that look suits you!"

"Tat – su – haaaaaaaaaa –"

Sobering up at that low growl, Tatsuha held his hands up in protest. "It wasn't me!" Then, _it_ happened. Tatsuha's elbow hit his fork, which sent peas pelting at Ryuichi's face.

Ryuichi calmly wiped his face, paying no heed to Tatsuha's apologies. Then he yelled, "Food fight!" while flinging his broccoli at K. K ducked and threw a well-aimed bread stick at Ryuichi, shouting "Counterattack!"

The food fight escalated without Yuki's permission. He got up to leave and was bombarded by a splatter of mashed potato He glared. It was definitely Rika this time. She was a mess. Grains of something were stuck in her hair, her face was painted with gravy and both hands were covered with mashed potato. At least she wasn't wearing the dress he had designed. Still, the look of victory on her face egged him on. He carefully spooned mayonnaise and catapulted it in her direction. Soon, white joined the myriad of colors on her face. "Bull's-eye," he murmured.

It was pandemonium.

It was noisy, it was messy, and it was brought to a screeching halt by a fist slamming down on the table. Everyone stared at Mika, frozen. Tatsuha had been in the midst of pouring juice on K's head. His hand remained in position and the flow slowed to a trickle. K had been wrestling Tatsuha away. He too, remained with his hands locked around Tatsuha's wrist. Mika daintily dabbed her lips. Somehow, Mika had managed to remain at the table as the only food-free person. "Everyone," she calmly announced. "My baby's coming."

The timer in the kitchen went off with a 'ding.' Tatsuha was the first to react. He removed K's slackened hands and distractedly headed to the kitchen, still holding his glass. "Oh, the chicken's ready."

A fork whizzed past him, ricocheted off the wall and fell to the floor with an ominous clang. Heart beating madly, Tatsuha turned around and exclaimed, "What was that for?!"

Mika eyed him dangerously. "Who's more important? Me – Or the chicken?

Without thinking, he promptly answered, "The chicken."

A knife shot towards him and he ducked in the nick of time. He stared. It was embedded into the wall, still slightly vibrating.

"Hey!" Yuki yelled, "My wall!"

Tatsuha glared at him and demanded, "Who's more important? Me – "

"The wall."

With two idiots for brothers, nobody would blame her, Mika reasoned, as she picked up the neared object with a firm grip, which happened to be a bottle of ketchup.

Instantly reminded of the painful combination of ketchup and hormones, Yuki began to panic. "Mika. Put. The. Ketchup. Down. Let's talk this over, okay?"

Mika put the bottle down, but gritted her teeth. "My baby wants to come out. _Now._ What is there to talk about?!"

Silence. And then Tohma's calm voice reasoned, "But there's still one more month to go." As if that settled everything.

Mika's grip on the bottle tightened as she death-glared her husband. "Did you think," she breathed out before raising her voice, "the baby knows how to read a calendar or even _know _what a calendar is?! Do something!" She screeched at Tohma and pointed her finger. "It's your fault!"

Tohma blinked stupidly and mouthed 'My fault?' while pointing to himself, giving everyone beseeching looks. Obviously Tohma was confused and does not handle emergency situations very well. Mika grimaced, as the contractions got stronger. "Are you just going to sit there until the baby comes out?!"

That got them into motion. Tohma kindly asked Mika, "What should we do now then?"

Mika's eyes bulged out. She resolved there and then never to get pregnant again. "Call the ambulance or something!"

"Oh right. The ambulance." Tohma smiled at everyone. "The ambulance!" He announced proudly.

Everyone stared back at him. Shuichi whispered to Yuki, "Wow. Seguchi-san seems…different…"

Yuki snatched Tohma's cell phone of the counter and pressed it into his hands. "That's right, " he said firmly. "The ambulance. You have to _call_ it before it comes."

"Of course!" Yuki breathed a sigh of relief as Tohma began screening through his phone book, murmuring, "Fire brigade…no…Gardening services…no… Police…no…" before hitting call.

"Hello? Seguchi Tohma speaking." He listened for a while before addressing the nearest person, which happened to be Hiro. "Do want pepperoni or seafood pizza?"

Hiro just stared stupidly at Tohma, trying to decide if he was serious. Cursing darkly under his breath, Yuki snatched the phone and ended the call. He had overestimated Tohma's intelligence. Tohma was obviously not in the right mind.

Mika screeched in frustration from where she was sitting. With great effort, she threw a shoe at Tohma and missed. "Have you all gone stupid or were you just brainless to begin with?! There are so many cars here! Just _drive_ me to the hospital already!"

Everybody (except Tohma) stared at Mika in awe and simultaneously thought, _Wow… she's so…energetic._

"Excellent suggestion, Mika-san!" Tohma exclaimed. He dug through his pockets. An elegant frown appeared. "Mika-san, have you seen my car keys?"

The other shoe came flying at him and hit him square in the forehead. Yuki had to physically restrain his sister as she screamed, "'Have you seen my _car keys_?!' Come here and I'll give you something to see! I'll bloody kill you if my baby calls me Mika-_san!_ –Let me go!"

Tohma stared at the shoe in bewilderment as Shuichi opened the house door and Tatsuha fished his car keys out. Yuki carried a struggling Mika and deposited her into the car before getting in. Ryuichi joined them. Shuichi hurriedly got into K's car, grabbing Rika along the way and Hiro got in next to K.

The madhouse was suddenly silent and empty save for a lone person. To no one in particular, Tohma protested indignantly, "But this isn't my car keys!"

XXX

Yuki pointedly ignored a bunch of staring visitors as they walked past. As predicted, they burst into laughter once they were out of earshot. Or at least, when they thought they were. He fixed his eyes on Ryuichi and growled in a low voice, "Be glad you're no longer my student, Sakuma…Be very glad…"

A sheepish Ryuichi grinned at him. "I am! Truly, Yuki-_sensei_!" That earned him an icy glare and Ryuichi quickly decided to look at the walls instead.

It was Ryuichi's fault. People kept staring at them; it started when they burst into the hospital, all panicked and shouting for a doctor. The receptionist had looked at them and started laughing. Belatedly, Yuki had realized they were all covered in food and looked a downright mess. Ryuichi started the food fight; it was therefore his fault people were laughing and it was his fault Yuki wasn't happy.

They were all in the waiting room, and Yuki wondered why Mika had to go into labor in _his_ presence at _his_ house eating _his_ food. After what seemed like forever but in reality was only three hours, a nurse came up to him, beaming, and informed them a baby boy had been born. All Yuki wanted was to go home, but he found himself, along with the others, being ushered into the wardroom where Mika lay with her new baby.

Mika smiled wanly at them. Shuichi immediately started rambling. "How are you? Oh the baby is so cute! Have you thought of a name?"

She carefully eased the baby into Shuichi's clumsy arms. Yuki watched carefully. He didn't want to get sued if Shuichi dropped the baby and spattered his brains on the hospital floor.

Mika sank back against her pillows. "Name…Tohma and I discussed a few but we haven't quite decided yet…" She frowned. "Where is Tohma?"

Everyone froze instantly. Brains they had left behind in their panic caught up to them. "Shit." Was the quiet but clear answer.

Hiro looked at Yuki, stricken. "I thought he was with you!"

"You mean he didn't follow the other car?!"

Everyone exchanged glances, confused. "So," Yuki began," whose car did he follow then?"

"None," a quiet voice answered. "_He _was left behind."

Hiro turned around. Tohma gave him a benign smile and Hiro backed away immediately, freaked out. There was something very scary and wrong with how friendly the smile looked. "I," Tohma began pleasantly, " followed my own car."

_Okay…Seguchi-san seems normal again._ Shuichi watched Hiro take two steps back as Tohma took one forward. _Yup. He's very normal._

Mika and Yuki were the only ones unaffected by the sub zero-degree aura Tohma projected. Mika found the strength to roll her eyes. "I see you found your car keys. How wonderful."

"Ah yes, I did. I'm sorry to say it wasn't your shoe, though that helped a little." His soft smile actually reached his eyes this time. "How are you feeling, Mika –"

"No!"

"Sorry?"

Mika glared at him. "No more Mika-san. We've been married for seven years! It's been driving me up the wall far longer than that! I hate it!"

"Oh."

For one maddening moment, Mika thought he had reverted back to his out-of-it state. Then Tohma smiled again, and his voice was gentle. "No more then," he agreed. "Mika."

Yuki thought it was high time to leave. Apparently, do did everyone else, if the way they silently inched towards the door was any indication. Shuichi gently laid the baby into the hospital cot and backed away. That got Tohma's attention. He picked up the baby with ease; the movement got Yuki to irritably wonder if Tohma had to be so goddamn good at everything. If he was lucky, the baby might piss on Tohma. That brought a slight smirk on his face, which would be something he would regret for a very long time.

Tohma somehow detected the smirk and the meaning behind it. He gave Yuki a beatific smile and faced the baby in his arms. "_Eiri-chan_, you're so adorable. Say hello to papa. Kootchie kootchie koo!"

They halted in their track as Yuki's mouth literally dropped open. (Elegantly, of course) Ryuichi and Shuichi fought back a peal of laughter. Mika merely raised an eyebrow at Tohma. "You decided his name already, I see."

Tatsuha wasn't as accommodating; a shout of laughter escaped him as Yuki thundered, "You are bloody _not_ naming him after me!"

Tohma smiled at him. "Of course we aren't Eiri-_san_," he said in a tone designed to make people feel stupid. It worked. "God spoke to the depths of my heart and told me he was destined to be named Eiri."

Yuki radiated a killer's aura. "You are _not _naming him Eiri – that is final. And since when did you believe in God?"

Mika scoffed at that. "Please. If you can't behave yourself in a hospital, get out." The baby in Tohma's arms scrunched up his nose and began to cry. Mika held out her arms expectantly. "Tohma, hand him here. I need to breast-feed _Eiri-chan_."

Tatsuha was on the floor now, gasping as he convulsed with laughter, tears streaming down his face. He wasn't the only one laughing. Ryuichi and Shuichi had joined him, rolling as best as they could on the limited space, occasionally banging on the floor as they did so. Hiro had doubled up with laughter, gasping and wheezing for breath as K patted his back, uncontrollable laugher escaping him as well. Yuki glared at the only one not shaking with mirth and dangerously breathed out, "Not one word from you. Not one." And then he stormed out.

If Rika could speak, her laughter would have been the loudest of them all.

XXX

"It's not that bad."

"It's abominable!" Yuki snapped back at Shuichi. "What was he thinking?!"

"Same as your parents, I guess."

Yuki shot K a dark look. "You're enjoying this too much."

K shrugged. "Ah, but a smart soldier takes any opportunity offered. It ensures survival and advantage against the enemy. No offence intended of course," he grinned lazily, "Mr. Eiri-chan."

Yuki pointedly ignored the jab and warningly glared at Shuichi instead, whose eyes were sparkling with mischief. "And don't you dare," Yuki threatened," to even think of saying 'goo-goo ga-ga' again."

Shuichi was all smiles. "Aw!" he exclaimed, "did you hear that K? Yuki just said goo-goo ga-ga! I never thought I would here it from him! Isn't he just so adorable?"

"You're completely missing the point!"

"Of course not, _Eiri-chan_."

There was no stopping it. Yuki could tell the teasing was going to go on until they were blue in the face. He buried his face into his hands and groaned. Someone tugged his little finger and Yuki pulled his hands away, waspishly snapping "_Now _what?!"

Rika backed away immediately, clutching her soft toy. Shuichi gave Yuki a slightly reproachful look. Yuki took a deep breath and tried not to sound like a psycho murderer, even though he had half a mind to be exactly that. His eyes fell on the bunny she was clutching and frowned. "Where did you get that from?"

Shuichi followed his gaze and explained. "Ryuichi got it for her. It's really cool! There's this little side pouch with a zipper! You can keep stuff in it." Rika crouched down and unzipped the bunny. Curious, Shuichi bent over. "Did you keep something in there, Rika?"

Yuki wouldn't have given a damn if he hadn't found himself suddenly staring down the barrel of a gun. He was surprised, to say the least. He hadn't even noticed Rika clambering up on him.

"Whoa!" Shuichi shrieked, "Where did you get that? No wonder Kumagoro-Junior was so heavy! – "

Yuki didn't take his eyes of the gun. "Shuichi, can we focus on the problem here?"

"Oh right!" Shuichi scrambled to his feet. "Rika could you hand that over here? It's dangerous." He half-begged. "K help me!"

Unperturbed, K continued sipping his coffee. "Oh don't worry. It's not dangerous."

Shuichi almost cried in relief. "You gave her a toy gun?"

The deadly click of the safety hatch being released answered Shuichi's question. Instantly panicking again, Shuichi screamed, "Aaaaah! Rika!! Give it here!"

Yuki snatched the gun out of Rika's hands, blatantly ignored her pout and tiredly asked K, "Not dangerous?"

K took another sip. "She has bad aim."

Shuichi went ballistic again. "Is there a bullet stuck in your brain or is there a candid camera crew filming us right now?! K!"

K nonchalantly tossed his now empty cup into the bin. "Neither. It's just training."

This time, both Shuichi and Yuki shouted. "What the _hell _are you training her for?!"

* * *

Wooooooo…Crack. Ah. I missed it so much. Sorry if it went haywire…I'm completely dried of inspiration…please, p_lease_ drop a review, even if it it's just to tell me of a spelling mistake, or a grammar error. Anything that will help this story improve. Thank you. 


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